Bleach: Ichigo's Captaincy
by Erich Zann III
Summary: Ichigo is being summoned to Soul Society... Permanently. But there are still those on earth who love him. Of course, there are those in Soul Society, who loves him as well. Ichigo's tenure as a Soul Society captain may not be as smooth as he thought it would be, what with all the women who love him surrounding him. IchigoxRukia, ToshiroxKarin, KenseixMashiro. Rated M for sex.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ichigo saw Rukia coming into sight as he approached Urahara Shoten. It was a near cloudless day in mid Spring, and almost a month had gone by since the Vandenreich incident. He had gotten his powers back, and had become once more accustomed to having them in addition to his new power, the vestiges of which could never have been entirely stripped from him by anyone, much less someone as weak willed as Kugo Ginjo.

Ironically, he had learned much more about himself, including the fact that he had Quincy powers, though his control over them was slightly limited still. He was taking lessons with Uryu's father in controlling them. Ichigo knew that Uryu's father spared no occasion to poke fun at both him and at his father for this fact, given that Ichigo's father was a Shinigami and so was Ichigo. But Ichigo wanted as much power as he could get his hands on so that he could protect his loved ones.

School for him had begun again, and he was once more a fairly normal teenager/Shinigami, except that in the month since the Vandenreich incident, Orihime had gotten up her courage and confessed to him. Ichigo was pretty shocked by the sudden revelation. He always had been a bit of an idiot. So he wasn't that surprised that he never noticed. He turned her down. While he did consider her extremely important to him, he felt no romantic attachment to her at all.

It seemed Orihime had already sort of known this, because she simply smiled and said "I thought you might say that, Kurosaki-kun…" High school for Ichigo was drawing to a close. He was past the middle of his third year, and that meant that soon, he'd have to start applying for colleges. He didn't really have time to be out and about.

But Rukia had summoned him via Hell Butterfly, so it had to be important. She wasn't living at his house anymore. She lived at Urahara Shoten for the moment, and, according to her, anyway, made sure that both she and Riruka kept their doors locked at night, as she didn't trust Kisuke one bit.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said, smiling brightly. He hadn't seen her smile in what seemed like ages, though actually it had only been a month, perhaps. She was a full time Shinigami lieutenant, now, and didn't have time to play the part of a normal schoolgirl. However, she said she had taken the day off, leaving the town in the capable hands of Urahrara and his crew.

"Hey, Rukia. Long time no see. How's it going?" It was good to see her again. In the year that she had been gone, he had missed her perhaps most of all. Her playful teasing, her small frame that belied such great strength, her near preternatural grace and beauty…

 _Whoa. Getting a bit ahead of myself, here… I wonder how she and Renji are doing together…_ Ichigo thought, with no small amount of bitterness, trying to remind himself that she not only had a boyfriend, but probably also a whole line of men wanting to be with her. It had for a long time been fairly obvious to him that she and he were dating.

Ichigo had never said anything because it wasn't his business… And now wasn't the time to make it his business. But… Maybe he could just ask casually how they were doing together… If he made it seem like it wasn't a big deal, maybe there wouldn't be a problem.

"I'm glad you came, Ichigo. It's nice to be able to see my old friends. Um… How are Chad and Orhime doing?"

"They're doing fine. They don't even remember their heads being messed with by Tsukishima. It's like he never even existed. They didn't find his body, but that doesn't mean he isn't dead."

"I see. Has Orihime asked you out yet?" Rukia asked, sounding nervous about the question.

"W-wha!? H-how'd you know!? I-I mean… Yeah…" Ichigo said. Did _everyone_ besides him know about Orihime's feelings? Great! Now he felt like an idiot _and_ a jerk. What the hell else didn't he know about his friends?

"And…?" Rukia asked quietly, not looking at Ichigo, her breath caught in her throat, her heart beating faster, waiting for him to answer the question that would determine everything… Absolutely everything from then on between her and Ichigo.

"And what?" Ichigo asked dimly.

"What did you say, fool!?" She shouted. Then she muttered, "and _what_?" Rukia muttered semi-disgustedly, exasperated already with how dense Ichigo was being.

"Yeesh! I turned her down, alright!?"

Rukia's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe he had really just said that. He turned Orihime down? Did that mean that she still had a chance? No, probably not. He probably wanted someone a little more human… A little less dead. The way that girl Riruka talked about him, he might still have a future with her, though.

"What about you and Renji?"

For a moment, Rukia didn't quite register what Ichigo had said. Then, the question finally hit home. Her and Renji?

"What _about_ me and Renji?" She asked, semi-suspiciously. Ichigo shrugged.

"I dunno. You two always seemed kind of close. I thought you were dating… or something…" He tried to make it sound like it was of little importance. He was sure that he had failed, though. Rukia's face was blank for a moment, then she doubled over laughing all of a sudden, causing Ichigo to jump in shock, and Riruka, Ururu, and Jinta to peek out from the shop door.

"Yep… He totally just confessed to her…" Jinta said with a smirk. The idiot should've known he'd never have a chance.

"I-I don't know. Kurosaki-san isn't that bad, is he?" Ururu replied, looking questioningly at Jinta. Last of all, Riruka smacked Jinta over the head.

"OW! You stupid bitch! What the hell!?"

"Don't talk about Ichigo that way, baldy! Like _you_ could ever get a woman to even look at you, let alone go out with you, you midget!"

"Oh yeah… I forgot how _in love_ with Ichigo you are… Ehehehe OWW! DAMNIT!" Jinta sneered. With a wide smirk

"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HIM, BALDY!" She snapped. Then she became all smiles again, smirking confidently. "He's just amazingly awesome in every way…"

"Yep. She's in love with him…" Jinta and Ururu said at the same time. That led to more squabbling between the three of them, and by this time, Ichigo and Rukia had taken notice of them, looking in on their conversation.

"Hey! I don't eavesdrop on you guys! What is this, a zoo!?" Ichigo yelled. Jinta smirked.

"No! A zoo is worth paying to see. You couldn't pay _me_ to be interested in _that_!"

"You fucking brat!" Ichigo yelled furiously.

"Ichigo! Let's just go. I wanted to spend a day catching up…" Rukia said. Ichigo looked over at her, curious. Was she saying that she just wanted to spend time with him? He had been fairly sure that she must have had a concrete reason for inviting him out like this… Especially when he had tests right around the corner.

The truth was, of course, that his work came before school for him, but still, if he wanted any kind of future, the tests were still important, especially since he had only just recently finished fighting the Vandenreich.

He had seriously expected them to request immediately that he stay in Soul Society permanently. But they had just let him go back to the human world. Ichigo was sure that his business with Soul Society wasn't finished by a long shot. But he accepted the brief respite, and went back to the human world. Now, he was sure that Rukia had something important to tell him, even if she did say it was just a day out.

"I'm sure you must be busy, Ichigo, with school and everything…" Rukia said, turning away, looking as though she felt a little bit guilty.

"It's alright. Why don't we go to the mall? That's where humans go most of the time on weekends…"

"Oooh! Can we try out that club that humans call an arcade!? I've always wanted to revolutionize the world of dance!" Rukia said, looking excited. Ichigo actually laughed for once, and nodded.

"You mean Dance Dance Revolution?" he asked. "Sure. We can play Dance Dance Revolution." He couldn't refuse her when she made that face. She seemed so excited and happy to be in the Human world again that he probably would have done just about anything to see her smile some more like she was right at that moment, that cheerful, happy smile that lit up her face and made her fair features even more beautiful.

Ichigo figured that he could still wait a while to ask if Rukia was interested in going out with him. He was planning on doing it, but on top of being nervous, he didn't want to push his luck when he had already managed to get a date with her that day. He could ask her when the day was out, and they were heading back home.

That way, if she refused, and didn't want to hang out with him anymore, he would have at least gotten that one date. It was probably selfish of him, and cowardly, and pathetic, but he wanted to wring every moment with her that he could out of that day, and so, he would go to the mall, dance with her in the arcade, get lunch with her…

What kind of food did she even eat? She usually just ate whatever he was eating back at the clinic, but what food preferences did she have? Did she like spicy food? Or was she fonder of mild plates. They could go to Best Buy or Hot Topic.

For that matter, what music did she listen to? When she wasn't wearing her Shinigami uniform or her school uniform, what did she prefer to wear? She often wore Yuzu's casual clothes because they were a near fit for her, but was that really her style? Did she like traditional Japanese clothing, like yukata and geta?

That was when Ichigo realized how little he really knew about Rukia. Although he had considered himself friends with her for two years, now, he didn't know much about her personally. Was that a problem? Did that display his inadequacy?

They had typically been together more on business than on personal time, but still, to know next to nothing about her seemed a little bit ridiculous. He knew a lot about Chad, and although he knew almost nothing about Uryu or Orihime, that didn't bother him so much.

With Tatsuki, it would have been harder to find something he _didn't_ know about her. He even knew her cup size, embarrassingly enough. How did he know that again? Oh yeah, it was something to do with Kon. Needless to say, neither of them mentioned it again. He and Tatsuki, regardless of how close they were, were just friends.

"Hey, Rukia…" Ichigo said, looking over at her curiously. She looked back up at him and smiled.

"Yes?"

"I guess I just realized it, but we've been friends for two years, haven't we?" He asked. She thought for a moment. It was true. They had been. That was a long time for a human. For her, it passed in the blink of an eye. Ten years could have passed almost as quickly. The fact that so much had happened in those two years was just icing on the cake, so to speak.

"I-I guess we have been. I consider you one of my best friends, though…" Rukia said, looking away and blushing ever so lightly. "I haven't known you very long at all, at least for a Shinigami, but I feel like I know you better than I know most of the people I've spent my entire life with…"

"Yeah… But I don't feel like I know much about you at all…" Ichigo said, trying not to sound too strange. Rukia looked at him blankly for a moment, but then smiled.

"Oh. I guess that's true. But… Why did you think of that all of a sudden…?" Ichigo stiffened at this question. What was he supposed to say?

"I guess just because I was… curious or something…" Ichigo said, even thinking to himself what a weak excuse that was. Surely someone as intelligent as Rukia wouldn't buy that. But then, Rukia said, "Well, what did you want to know? I think I'd be alright telling you just about anything." She said, looking just slightly nervous at the prospect of opening herself up so much.

"Well… Like, what's your favorite food?" Ichigo asked. That was one thing that had been on his mind. Rukia raised an eyebrow at him. "My favorite _food_?" She asked. She had felt sure that he was going to ask something perverted, like her cup size, or if she had ever had sex before… The answers to which were 32A and no respectively…

Or was she expected to say that she had had sex before to avoid sounding inexperienced? The book she had read said that on one hand, having sex with a virgin had strong connotations of possession and dominance to males, but that on the other hand, some males didn't like women who were too inexperienced.

Which way did Ichigo go? According to the book, human males also asked questions like cup size in order to gauge how physically compatible they were with the girl and females asked other females in a display of female aggression and rivalry between each other.

"I-it's alright if you don't want t-to tell me…"

"No! I just… Didn't expect it. I like cucumber, eggs, and rice dumplings…And chocolate… I-I love chocolate…" Rukia said with a nervous blush, not wanting Ichigo to think she was a glutton. Ichigo sighed. _Oh! You girls and your chocolate._

"Oh… What about clothes? I know you typically wear your Shinigami uniform, but do you have any preferred wardrobe?" Ichigo asked. Rukia thought for a moment. "I like traditional clothing, usually in blue or violet."

Rukia felt a little disappointed. Did his lack of sexual questions mean that he wasn't interested in her? Maybe he was trying to be polite? But the book had said that he was supposed to ask how big her breasts were.

Unfortunately, the book also said that a woman's charm in a man's eyes was partially determined by her measurements. She had never been impressive in that department, especially when compared to women like Orihime, Rangiku, and Yoruichi, all of whom were far curvier, and bustier than Rukia, and occasionally made her wonder what happened to give her the short end of the genetic stick like that. Did she screw up in her past life?

Ichigo had the impression for some reason that Rukia was annoyed by his questions. He hadn't asked that much about her. Just what she liked to eat and wear. Were there certain questions he was expected to ask first? Did Shinigami customs dictate that "icebreaking" questions be asked, or that questions be asked in a certain order?

"Is something wrong? You seem upset…"

"What!? No! Not at all! But… A-are you… Interested in Miss Dokugamine?" Rukia asked. She wasn't sure at all if she wanted to know the answer. However, she had already asked. It was too late to say 'never mind' or laugh it off as a joke.

"Huh!? No way! But why do you ask?"

"Oh! I just thought that maybe you had asked _her_ those questions…"

"What questions?" Ichigo asked. Rukia was starting to confuse him, but also, his worries were starting to be confirmed. She had expected certain questions over others from him. He had a lot of questions, but he didn't know which ones were the 'right' questions.

"You know? Asking her how large her breasts are… Don't humans ask those kinds of questions all the time?"

"Wha!? No! Who the hell would!? Well… Besides Keigo… Where did you _get_ that information!?"

"From this book…" Rukia said with a bland, clueless smile.

Ichigo took the book from Rukia and read the cover, which had a picture of a boy and girl holding hands, and it said "mating rituals and romantic interaction between humans: By Urahara Kisuke."

Ichigo slapped his forehead, and read the first few pages of the book, which detailed questions that an 'interested' male would typically ask a woman, the top questions being her three measurements, whether she had ever had sex, what she was wearing, and what she would 'do to him'?.

"Rukia… Do you _really_ still take that guy seriously? This book is complete bullshit…"

"Really!? Then can I ask you a question?" Rukia asked. Ichigo stared at her for a moment, then nodded.

"Sure. Whatever you want…"

"A-are you… romantically involved with anyone? I've read books on human compatibility, and they all say that women look for men with a similar profile to yours… Physically powerful and attractive, cold and distant…"

"W-what the hell are you saying!? Where do you _get_ these books!? But… No, I'm not involved with anyone. And the person I want to be with is an impossibility… A-and I am not cold and distant!" Ichigo asked, ending by protesting her apparent image of him.

"Really? Why? Does she not feel the same way that you do? Is geographical proximity an issue?"

"Sh-she and I… live in completely different worlds… It would never be possible…"

"The book said that the Human World is a small planet, and that the chances of meeting the one you love are high, regardless of proximity…"

"Forget about the book!" Ichigo said, rather more harshly than he had intended to. "The book is full of shit! Anyway… Let's just… Try to enjoy today… It's kind of nice to be out of the house. Studying is a drag."

"Ahahaha… You're right!" Rukia said, shocked at how abruptly the conversation had ended. However, she shook it off quickly, and the two walked into the mall.

Inside, it was quite busy, considering it was a Saturday. Although it had only opened four hours before, it was packed already, filled with kids enjoying their day off. Ichigo took Rukia's hand and pulled her in so that they didn't get separated by the jostling crowd. As per Rukia's request, the first place that they went was the arcade.

Already, there were two people up on the DDR machine, dancing on the 'insane' level. Rukia watched them intently, and when they were done, she quickly pulled Ichigo up to the stage, and had him set up the machine.

Ichigo kind of wondered what he was doing this for. He was pretty good at DDR, but he didn't like it all that much, not to mention, Rukia was a complete beginner. It probably would have been better to start her at home on an Xbox set. Nonetheless, he chose the music, and asked Rukia what setting she wanted.

"I guess I'll do what those guys were doing before." She said blankly. Ichigo gaped at her, but acquiesced. He might as well. He just hoped that nobody he knew saw him there. After a moment, the music started, and he paid attention to the screen, which came up so fast he hardly had time to think. He was quick enough on his feet, now, that thinking wasn't an issue, and the two of them started stomping the arrows. Rukia laughed as she did this.

She was having fun. She had heard a lot about DDR, but had never gotten to play it. Now that she was, though, she discovered that she was really good at it. Ichigo was good too, though, she thought. He had never seemed the type to be into video games. Maybe she had been wrong about that, though. There were a lot of things about Ichigo that she didn't know.

She was barely paying attention, but still she found that just looking at the screen was enough for her to know what to do, and finally, the song ended, and she sighed in relief, and looked back, surprised to see a crowd of people watching them. Suddenly, the screen went to their scores. Ichigo had gotten an A-. Rukia had gotten an A++.

"Didn't you say you'd never played this game before, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, although he was smiling too. It was kind of nice to see Ichigo smile. He didn't do it that often, although he did it more, now, than he used to.

"I never have."

The rest of the day was spent fairly uneventfully. The two of them went around to different stores. There was a Barnes and Noble store in the mall, so they went in there for a while. Rukia got lost in the science fiction/fantasy section.

Apparently, she was really into HP Lovecraft, JRR Tolkien, and Isaac Asimov. She also apparently liked Gothic style literature like Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

They spent several hours in Barnes and Noble, and by the time they got out, the sun was already beginning to set. Ichigo checked his watch.

 _Damn! 1845h. Dad'll kill me if I'm late. 1930h means it's time to be home._

"You have to get back to your house?" Rukia asked sympathetically. She knew about Ichigo's strict curfew. Ichigo nodded, so the two left.

He could have probably milked another mile or so, just walking next to Rukia out of this date, but he felt as though now was the time to tell her. He had gotten his one date. He didn't expect anything more, and he had promised himself that he wouldn't be hurt if she rejected him.

He knew that was a load of bullshit, though. At least he wouldn't hold it against her. It wasn't like he would really be surprised. Surely there was someone better than _him_ on whom she would want to spend her free time.

"Ichigo?"

"Rukia?" They said at the same time.

"You go first…" They said simultaneously once more.

"No really, I don't mind…" They seemed to be of the same mind that night. Finally, Ichigo made sure that Rukia wasn't saying anything more, and spoke. "You go first, Rukia…" Ichigo said. Rukia nodded, looking slightly abashed.

"I did have another reason for asking you on this outing today, Ichigo…" Rukia said. Ichigo gave a start of surprise. She had said that it was just to catch up, and he had believed her. After all, what reason did he have not to?

"Okay… What did you have in mind?"

"The Commander General has told me that I am to request that you join the 13 Court Guard Companies… Permanently."

"So this whole day was just to make me more amenable to being recruited?" Ichigo asked, not wanting to believe this.

"Well, the Commander General told me to use whatever method I thought was best. So in that sense it was my choice to take you out, if that makes you feel any better, Ichigo…" Rukia felt bad, now. She was sure that Ichigo must be feeling rather ill used as the humans said.

"What was it you wanted to tell me, now?" Rukia asked innocently. Ichigo sighed and scowled.

"Nothing… Tell your Commander General I'll think about it…" Ichigo said. His tone of voice only made her feel worse. She wondered, now, if Ichigo had thought that she was asking him out on a date. It had seemed that way when she called up like that. She had never specifically said that it was a date, but the implication had been there.

"I have to hurry home… Dad'll flip his lid if I'm late…" Ichigo said, walking off ahead of Rukia. Rukia tried to get him to wait so that she could explain herself… But the more time passed, the weaker her explanation seemed, and the more heartless her plan started to look, even in her own eyes.

She didn't blame Ichigo for being disgruntled. She simply sighed and trudged back into Urahara Shoten, walking straight past Ururu, Jinta, Riruka, and Kisuke without a single word of explanation. Such a night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Nii-san!" Yuzu cried, hugging Ichigo as he walked in the door. Karin smiled at Ichigo as well, and Isshin looked up from the dinner table, checking his watch.

"Barely on time. You need to be more punctual. Come sit d…"

"Not hungry… I'm going to my room…" Ichigo said moodily, gently removing Yuzu from him and slouching up to his room upstairs. When he got there, he shut the door and groaned. He had been having such a great day with Rukia, preparing all the while to confess to her, and then she dropped _that_ bombshell on him?

That she was only using the date as an excuse to make him open to her Commander General's offer? What did he look like? What did she take him for? Suddenly, Kon popped out of the closet and began jabbering away.

"Heya, Ichigo! How'd your date with Nee-chan go?" He asked, jumping up and looking Ichigo in the eye.

"None of your business…" Ichigo said, shoving Kon off the desk, causing him to fly into the door.

"You are always so damn moody! So what!? Did she reject you or something? I don't blame her, a grouchy guy like you! Who _would_ wanna date you, besides that Inoue chick? I never understood that girl's taste in men…"

"Please shut up…" Ichigo groaned, putting on pajamas, going out to brush his teeth and getting in bed. He was sure that he wasn't going to have any interest in dinner that night. Instead, he just tried to go to sleep. Unfortunately, as he unwound from the day he had, exciting as it had been, he found himself getting more and more agitated.

He watched as the moon climbed higher and higher in the sky as evidenced by the moving shadows in his room through the curtains. It was a beautiful night. It had been a night like this that he had first met Rukia. When he had first seen her, he had thought she was crazy, wearing samurai clothes, and coming in through his bedroom window.

He had recognized how very beautiful she was, though, and that held him in his place for a moment. Then he had gotten his senses back and he treated her like any other thief in the house. He kicked her, and sent her vaulting head over heels to the floor.

Then she used a binding spell on him, and walked out. That was the night his life changed forever. After that, whatever else he was, he was a Shinigami Representative first.

"I bet you didn't even _tell_ her how you felt, did you? Moron…" Kon taunted. Ichigo looked over crankily at Kon and glared at him. "You didn't, did you? She takes you out on a date like that, and you can't even tell her your real feelings for her. You're the worst sort of person in the world, you are!"

"Shut up…" Ichigo said dangerously. "It wasn't a date! She just asked me out today so she could persuade me to join the 13 Court Guard Companies! She never intended it to be anything like a date!" he snapped.

At this, Kon was silent for a moment. He couldn't believe that Rukia would do something like that. As flirty as she could be when she was trying to get out of trouble, she wasn't a manipulative person by nature. Just a really good actress.

"Nee-chan isn't like that! You must have misunderstood her! You know her better than that!"

"I thought I knew her better than that, too. But I know exactly what she said…" Ichigo grumbled, turning out his light and getting into bed. He had no desire to be up at the moment. It was way too early to go to bed, but he was tired already. The shock of what Rukia said to him had exhausted him.

He could already feel his thoughts becoming sluggish, as slowly, they wended through his mind, passing slowly, but inconspicuously, leaving no lasting impression. His entire body was heavy, and looking at the stars outside, it was a beautiful evening.

Ichigo might have still been out if his father didn't have a 7:30 curfew. It didn't really matter to him usually, although, now, he wished that he could have spent more time with Rukia before he found out that she was just using the date…

What exactly had she done, actually? He wasn't entirely sure, now, why he was angry. It was probably because he had thought that Rukia actually wanted to go on a date with him, but thinking about it, Kon had a point. What reason had she ever given him to believe that?

Was he being as dense now as he had been about Orihime, though, admittedly, headed in the opposite direction? The point was, he was foul mouthed, ill tempered, and not really talented at anything but fighting. She, on the other hand, was graceful, beautiful, talented, intelligent, and strong.

Realizing this, he relaxed a bit, and found himself in a slightly better mood, and more liable to fall asleep. She had never given him any reason to believe that she had feelings for him. Although that felt kind of disappointing, it was also a bit liberating.

Now, it wasn't so hard to know what to say to her next time they met. Of course he would agree to join the court guard companies. He had no reason to say no. His studying was going poorly. He didn't have too big a connection to the human world, and frankly… He owed them… He owed Rukia… Big time.

Meanwhile, Rukia was sitting in her room trying to figure out what exactly she had done wrong. She would have been happy to sit alone all evening. She hadn't been hungry when she got in, and so, had refused dinner. Nonetheless, Kisuke had left some rice and miso soup outside her door if she wanted it. He was a nice person, even though he was a little bit weird.

Perhaps she should not have stated so blatantly that she was only in the human world to ask him to join the Court Guard. She could have waited until tomorrow, or the next day. She had been given a month in which to complete the mission, in order to give Ichigo time to consider his options, say his goodbyes to whomever he felt like saying goodbye, and get ready to go.

She was sure, now, though, that he would refuse her invitation, and that she would have to return having failed her mission. It was embarrassing, but she would have to give the reason that she believed that she failed the mission, and make a few short notes on the affair.

Did that mean that everyone in Soul Society would find out how horribly she had screwed up? After that, they would most likely send a captain to attempt to reason with Ichigo. Ichigo was a stubborn person, though. She couldn't see him caving to insistence from anyone.

Commander General Kyoraku himself could come down to see Ichigo, and it wouldn't change his answer. It was one of Ichigo's most frustrating qualities, but also one of the things she loved and respected the most about him. If not for the intrusion that happened next, Rukia could have sat up all night thinking about Ichigo. Unfortunately, there was a knock on her door.

"Yes? Come in…" Rukia said dispassionately, assuming it was Kisuke trying to convince her that it was wise to eat something… He would make up some dumb excuse like her gigai needed the nutrition, or even that he wanted to see her pretty face at the dinner table… Kisuke was the kind of shameless guy who would say something like that. Instead, though, it was that strange Fullbringer, Riruka Dokugamine.

"Hey, Kuchiki… Don't tell me my biggest rival is lost in her own melancholia…?" Riruka said, her semi-permanent scowl still on her face.

"Did Mr. Urahara send you in here? He wants me to eat, doesn't he?" Rukia asked, still staring out the window.

"No. He doesn't care if you eat. Your gigai doesn't need it, he says, and even humans can go one night without food. But I know you had an argument with Ichigo… What happened? Did he call you short? Make fun of you for being so flat-chested? Tell you how horrible your drawings are? How bad could he possibly have insulted you?"

"It's not like that." Rukia said irately, kind of annoyed that Riruka had just called her flat chested, short, and a bad artist in one sentence in addition to suggesting that Ichigo had any reason to insult her. "And it's not your concern." She continued, not leaving a chance for Riruka to speak. "Matters regarding Soul Society should not be looked into by Humans."

"Ahhh… So you're trying to get Ichigo to join your little Gotei 13 club, huh?"

"You're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, human, and it's liable to get lobbed off…" Rukia said dangerously, glaring at Riruka. Riruka just smirked at this, though, and stuck her tongue out at Rukia.

"Aww… Don't be like that, Kuchiki… I can't let my rival in battle as well as love get caught up being depressed…"

"W-wha!? Who said I liked Ichigo!?"

"You did. Why would you think we're talking about him?"

"Erk…"

"You're way too easy to trick. Yukio was more fun to mess around with… But you're a more pleasant person to be with… So why don't you quit it with the Tsundere act, and tell me what's going on?" Riruka asked, patting Rukia condescendingly on the head.

Rukia scowled and turned away from Riruka for a moment, flipping through a small pocket sized dictionary.

"Tsundere isn't in this Human Euphemism Dictionary… Is it a type of human theater, like Kabuki or opera?" Rukia asked interestedly, leaning in toward Riruka, looking excited, now.

"W-wha!? What the fuck are you _talking_ about!? How behind the times _are_ you!? Tsundere isn't like Kabuki! It's a personality type, which indicates a person has a noted difference between what they say and how they actually feel. It often involves the person behaving in a hostile manner to avoid displaying their true emotions… It typically refers to a woman, although Tsundere men aren't out of the question…"

"What!? How is that anything _like_ my personality! I am _not_ hostile!"

"Aha… I bet you tried to ask Ichigo out tonight and he turned you down, didn't he? Don't feel bad. He even turned that Inoue chick down. If she didn't have a chance…"

"If you finish that sentence, you're liable to end up in your grave…" Rukia muttered angrily, her fist clenching irately. "Besides, I didn't ask anyone out. I was sent to the Human World to invite Ichigo to join the Gotei 13, and when I told him as much, he seemed to get annoyed, and we ended up parting ways. I'm fairly certain he's going to refuse, now."

"He probably mistook your intentions when you invited him out for the day." Riruka said, all traces of a smile gone from her face. What Rukia had thought earlier suddenly came back into her mind. She couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of that beforehand. Granted, Ichigo hadn't really said anything about believing it to be a date, nor had he ever told her that he liked her or anything.

"I bet you anything he thought you were asking him out on a date…" Riruka continued, staring hard at Rukia as if daring her to contradict her. She didn't, though. Rukia knew that Riruka was probably right.

"After all, it would have to be of pretty paramount importance to bother Ichigo right now…" The purple haired Fullbringer said, pausing at the look of shock on Rukia's face.

"What? Why? Is Ichigo in a bad mood right now?" Rukia asked stupidly. Riruka shook her head.

"College entrance exams. I'm not taking them because I decided not to go back to high school after the incident. However, if Ichigo is any kind of student, he'll be studying super hard right now, spending every free moment he has preparing for college entrance exams, as his results will more or less decide his future for him."

"Really? I didn't realize that Ichigo was such a dedicated student… I knew he was smarter than most people, but he always spent far more time exterminating Hollows and doing work for the Soul Society…"

"All the more reason that he should have to study. He doesn't have unlimited time, and time doesn't stop when he cuts class for you precious Soul Reapers. He's probably pretty frantic trying to catch up on lost work, so when he found out that you wasted his whole day just to ask him if he would join the Gotei 13, he was probably a little bit annoyed, too…

Beyond that, I think it's fairly safe to say that most human males, when asked on a date, don't expect the woman to merely be there 'on business'. It's an issue of ego…"

"You sure seem to know a lot about this…" Rukia said suspiciously. Riruka merely smirked at Rukia, sticking her nose up in the air and giving the Shinigami an oh-so-superior look that would greatly annoy most people.

"Well, being beyond and apart from other humans gives one a unique perspective on social dynamics." Riruka said with that same arrogant grin. Rukia sighed and nodded at this.

"I-is that so? Do you know what I should do, then?" Rukia asked hopefully. Maybe Riruka could help her fix what she had done. Was an apology enough? Maybe it required an explanation, or something beyond that?

"Nope. It's not my problem. The affairs of Shinigami don't interest me." Riruka said dismissively. "I only came cuz the shop owner asked me to. I have no responsibility beyond this. In fact, why should I help you? You're trying to take Ichigo away from me."

"You act like he belongs to you, Riruka. He's never belonged to anyone, much less me, nor do I think he ever will. Even if he does someday get married, he'll still be as independent as he is now, because that's just the kind of person that he is."

"You know him pretty well, Kuchiki… Maybe you should ask yourself what the best course of action is."

Rukia didn't sleep well that night. Her dreams were disturbed by thoughts of Ichigo kissing her, and her melting into his embrace.

Then, suddenly, he would disappear, and she would cry out his name, but he wouldn't be there. The only thing that would be left of him was Zangetsu. It was a well known fact that when a Shinigami died, their sword disappeared.

So that automatically meant that if the sword didn't disappear, then the Shinigami wasn't dead. But that tortured Rukia all the more intensely. If Ichigo wasn't dead, then where was he? She worried and fretted and cried in her dreams, begging Ichigo to stop hiding and come out and see her again. But she knew that he wasn't there, and somehow, it felt like her heart was slowly being torn apart.

The next day, Ichigo showed up at Urahara Shoten right as it opened to talk to Rukia. Not about what one might have thought, though. He had pondered his answer overnight. He had already known from the moment she asked what he was going to say.

But he had sat on it for a little while just to be sure. It was Kisuke himself who answered the door. The shop owner grinned at Ichigo and told him to come in and sit down for a while.

Ichigo walked in, and actually smiled at Yoruichi, Soi Fon, who was over on a visit, Jinta, Ururu, and Riruka. Soi Fon glared back at him, but then stood and bowed. She had been ordered to be diplomatic.

As an assassin, diplomacy wasn't something she was skilled at, although Yoruichi had given her some advice as to how to approach it. After all, the Commander General probably wouldn't be pleased if even a captain couldn't get Kurosaki to join them full time.

"Have you come to give us your answer, Kurosaki? The Captain-Commander was not sure if Kuchiki alone could get you to leave the Human world behind and join the Gotei Thirteen, so he sent me. Don't worry. I was ordered not to issue any form of threats in order to gain your acceptance of our invitation."

Ichigo gulped when he heard her say this, especially since her face stated rather clearly that she was not happy about not being allowed to threaten him or physically harm him. However, she had even left her Zanpakuto behind in a rare display of peaceful intentions. She walked over to Ichigo, and her face softened.

"I understand… that you have friends and family in the Human world. However, just because Aizen is defeated does not mean that all is fine and dandy. If you join Soul Society, you could further improve your current skills, and all the while, train the abilities that you forsook for sheer combat prowess in order to make yourself more balanced…" Soi Fon said diplomatically.

Ichigo was surprised that this introverted, even shy woman was speaking so much, and Yoruichi and Kisuke also seemed to be quite surprised that she had not whipped out her Shunko immediately, and offered him the chance to join them, or the chance to lose his head.

It was at that moment that Rukia came out into the front room, her hair a mess, and her pajamas wrinkled and poorly fitting from tossing and turning. She scratched her head and yawned, then said good morning to everyone. At first, Ichigo didn't know what to say.

As soon as he saw her, he immediately realized anew how amazing she was. Even when she was half asleep, she moved with a liquid grace that seemed almost hypnotic. Her lithe, slender body was perfect in every way… Ichigo tried to shake these thoughts out of his head. He was becoming as perverted as Urahara. That would never do. He had to be a better person than that.

Rukia yawned again, and walked out into the room, her eyes still blurry from sleep. As such, she didn't realize when she crashed straight into Ichigo, who had become nearly paralyzed as soon as he saw her. Ichigo stumbled back a few steps, and Rukia fell over, poorly balanced to begin with, and looked up in surprise and embarrassment.

"I'm very sorry… I didn't realize that we had guests this morning. I would have gotten dressed and looked a bit better than this if… I-Ichigo…" Rukia said, finishing her sentence breathlessly, as though seeing him had just knocked the wind out of her.

Ichigo looked at her seriously, not cracking a smile as he had done the previous day, but wearing his usual scowl. Rukia looked away from Ichigo, blushing slightly, feeling terrible all over again that she had led him on like that, even if it had been unintentional.

"Ichigo… I'm…"

"Wait… You don't have to say anything. But, could we talk outside?" Ichigo asked. "I never intended this to be a spectator event…" He asked, in the closest thing to a joke she had ever heard Ichigo say. She nodded stupidly and followed Ichigo into the back yard and shut the sliding rice paper door. Ururu and Jinta, along with Riruka started to run over to eavesdrop, but the adults stopped them.

"Hey, you little brats…" Soi Fon said irately. "They asked to be alone! If you have even a shred of respect for either of them, you'll listen and stay here…" This threat immediately gained Riruka's compliance, who, though she pouted a bit, sat back down. This more or less took the wind out of Jinta and Ururu's sails, so to speak.

"Ichigo…"

"I told you. You don't need to say anything. I shouldn't have been so angry about what you said last night. You never actually…" Ichigo couldn't finish his sentence.

"You thought I was asking you out on a date, didn't you?" Rukia asked, looking into Ichigo's intense brown eyes with her deep blue ones. Ichigo scowled, but nodded.

"It was stupid of me to think that someone like you would ever like someone like me… I'll join the Gotei Thirteen. That's all I came here to say. I just need a little time to say goodbye to everyone."

"Ichigo! Stop! It isn't that I don't like you. I just didn't think that you would take it like that. I guess we've been partners so long that I sort of assumed you didn't see me as anything else. That's why I never said anything. Partnerships deeper than ours have been ruined by one sided romantic feelings. I didn't want that to happen to us. I enjoyed being partnered with you. I enjoyed spending time with you… I-I love you…"

"You're crazy… Is what I should say." Ichigo started. Then, he spoke, just as Rukia looked like she was about to cry. "But even if you were crazy, I'd still say 'I love you'. I hope we'll work well together for Soul Society." Ichigo said, sounding uncannily romantic. He then put a hand on Rukia's cheek, and kissed her.

Her lips were smooth, and soft, like silk, and, not that it mattered, but she tasted like cherries. It was a nice taste, and he was sure that it would stay with him for as long as he lived.

"What the hell? You just kissed me without asking… You better be serious about this… Or I'll set Nii-sama on you…" Rukia said, blushing, but wearing a maniacal grin on her face.

"I'm not apologizing…" Ichigo said. "And I would fight your dear Nii-sama a thousand times over if it meant I could keep you. Does that sound serious enough?"

"If you live through a thousand fights with him, then we'll talk."

And somehow, Ichigo knew that she was right. The odds that he would survive fighting Byakuya 1,000 times were slim to none. However, this only made him laugh. The first time he had laughed in years. It felt good, like the sense of head spinning vertigo that he got when he battled a strong opponent, but stronger. And Rukia was laughing, too.

If she was beautiful when she smiled, she was positively radiant when she laughed. Her entire face lit up, and it seemed as though a nimbus of brilliant white, but cool light surrounded her, her entire body cooled by the power of her Zanpakuto. And he wouldn't want her any other way.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Ichigo spent the next day saying goodbye to all those that he felt it was important to speak to. His friends from school, the people at Urahara Shoten, his family… Especially them. He tried to explain to Karin and Yuzu that although Aizen had been defeated, that didn't mean that they didn't need powerful Shinigami in Soul Society.

He told them all the whole truth about what he had been doing, and where he had been going all that time. Even Karin cried… It was something she hadn't done in years. It hurt to have to leave them behind, although, secretly, Ichigo had been preparing for years, knowing that this day would eventually come… The point of no return.

He had chosen, after he lost his powers to go back to Soul Society's side. He could have stayed a normal human. Lived how he wanted, died how he wanted. He could have gone on to college, and gotten a normal job as a normal person, with a normal wife and family to take care of.

Maybe he would have even gone on in sports, like Karate, or some such shit. Probably not. That was Tatsuki's thing. He didn't even know what his "thing" was. He just knew that he would hate having to live a "normal" life. A life where he couldn't do the one thing that he really wanted to do, which was protect the people about whom he cared. As a Shinigami, that was what he could do best.

As a Shinigami, he had power, and he could use that power to save lives. There was little recognition or reward in a job like that. The people that he protected didn't know that he was doing it. He didn't need that, though. He just wanted to be able to say that he did something good with his life. If that meant being an anonymous protector, that was what he would do.

He explained that to his sisters. They cried. His father punched him, and Ichigo grabbed his foot and slammed the old man into a table. His father was still as violent and apelike as ever. But that was who his father was. He wouldn't want the old man to change at all. Ichigo laughed when this happened. Isshin laughed… And through their tears, even Karin and Yuzu laughed.

After that, he went home, and ate dinner with his family, and they talked and joked long into the night, trying to pretend that he wasn't leaving in the morning. Although his sisters were now in their first year of middle school, it was like he was fifteen once more, and they were only ten. Once more, they were the normal family that once they had been…

Well, as normal as dinner with his family could possibly be. That night, the two girls snuck into Ichigo's room after he had fallen asleep, and like they used to occasionally do, fell asleep at the foot of his bed, Yuzu still holding Kon close to her, although Kon found that he was enjoying this more and more, lately, now that she was developing more.

He knew that if he mentioned this to Ichigo, though, Ichigo would likely tear him limb from limb, so he didn't say anything. The next day, when Ichigo awoke at the crack of dawn, as he had promised he would, he noticed the two girls leaned up against each other at the foot of his bed.

He sighed sadly. He didn't want to leave them. He wished that he could take them along with him, but they needed to stay in the Human World. They needed to continue being normal, and it wasn't like he would never see them again.

Surely there would be occasions where he needed to come to the Human world, and at those times, he could visit them… Or would that hurt them, too? After all, he would thereafter have to leave again. He sighed and started scribbling out a note to Karin and Yuzu.

 _Hey, guys. I'm sorry I have to leave without saying goodbye. But if you woke up and started talking to me again, I might not be able to leave, and I know I have to. They're finally completing the Gotei 13 once more._

 _They have all 13 captains, now, and the Court Guard is full of capable, strong warriors, all of whom take great pride in their duty. It's an honor that they consider someone like me worthy of joining them. I'm sorry if you resent me for leaving, but please do your best to be happy with the human lives you're still able to lead. Tell Dad that he's a dimwit and a gorilla, and that despite that, I'll miss him just as much._

 _Goodbye._

 _Ichigo._

It felt so final, so isolated, so sad, saying goodbye to them… But he had to do it. There was no choice. He got up and got dressed in the bathroom in case Karin or Yuzu woke up, then began to sneak out the front door. However, he was accosted before he got there by Karin.

"Hey, Ichi-nii… I thought for sure you'd say goodbye… Or can you not face us anymore now that you're leaving? You too good for us or something, now?" She asked, scowling at him. Ichigo smiled at her, and gestured for her to join him.

"I can let you walk with me up to the departure point. Urahara-san, Riruka-san, and Rukia will be there, along with a few others. If you ever want to send me a letter, give it to them. If anyone can get it to me, they can. I promise I'll send letters to you, too."

"Letters are fine, but could you send pictures as well? When you marry Rukia, and have children, they'll be our niece or nephew. You'll actually be the first to give Dad grandchildren, most likely. Go figure. You'll have to bring them around sometime, even if we're shriveled old ladies by then. You can't lie to me. I know that Rukia's way older than she looks."

"No…" Ichigo disagreed. "I imagine that she looks about right for 150 years old… At least by a Shinigami's standards. Byakuya looks a bit older, maybe 24 or 25 human years. I imagine that he must be 200 or 300 years old, though.

He talks about events of 100 years ago as though they weren't so long ago, and the Commander General, I think is about as old as the former Captain-Commander, rest his soul. He looks like he's middle aged, but I don't think people age in any well-defined manner up there. I think you can live forever if you're powerful enough."

After that, they became somewhat silent. There wasn't much to say. Karin felt overwhelmingly sad. When she was younger, she thought her brother was the coolest guy in the world. All the way to the departure point, she held back her tears, feeling a choking sensation in her throat. It was like nothing she said would be sufficient to express how sad she was to see him go…

And the moment of departure came all too soon. It seemed like the walk that was supposed to take 40 minutes only took 30 seconds. It wasn't fair. Ichigo took the badge out of his back pocket but Karin stopped him, and, being taller than she used to be, reached as high as she could, standing on her tiptoes, and kissing Ichigo.

She blushed after doing this, but didn't seem to be sorry that she had. She saw how surprised Ichigo was. It was kind of funny to see him like that. Not much got past him, even if he was an idiot sometimes.

"I'll miss you. Don't stay away forever…" Karin said, almost as an afterthought. Ichigo smiled down at Karin sadly and thrust the badge into his chest, expelling his soul from his body. Once more, he was free…

Free from the restraints of his human body. But he didn't feel free. He felt like he was really letting everyone he cared about down. He looked over to the badge in his body's hand, and smiled at Karin, who was crying freely and unashamedly now.

"Please don't cry, Karin. That badge in my hand that I just used… You should have it, now. Just be careful you don't touch yourself with it carelessly. You don't want to end up removing your soul from your body. It's hard to get back in once you do.

Karin listened to it, shook it, and put it up to her face. It was warm, and felt like a small, beating heart, and she could hear soft, whispering voices. She hugged it tightly, making sure that it wasn't too close, and smiled at Ichigo, even though she was still crying.

"Thank you… Please say you won't be gone forever."

"Of course not. I'll definitely come around sometimes." Ichigo said, embracing Karin closely. Karin scowled at the contact, and hugged Ichigo back.

"Goodbye, Ichi-nii…" Karin said, pulling away from him, her tears still flowing down her cheeks. She was happy for him that he was able to do what he wanted to do, that he got to be with the person he loved… But her heart ached seeing him leave like that.

Every time he left, even if it was only for a short while, she was terrified that she would never see him again… That he would die on his important mission and that the next time she saw him would be in a coffin. The thought made her sick to her stomach. She hated the feeling of not knowing that her brother would be alright.

For a moment, Karin seemed like she was going to let him go peacefully… But then suddenly she grabbed him, her emotions taking over… She was only thirteen, after all…

"Ichi-nii!" She sobbed. "Please take me with you! I know I'm not as powerful as you are… But there must be a way that someone can learn to be a Shinigami!"

"There isn't…" Ichigo said sadly. "Karin… You either are a Shinigami or you aren't. My becoming one was a fluke, a freak accident. Urahara-san…? I know I've asked a lot from you these past few years, but please keep my family safe for me?

"God only knows Dad can't do it alone…" That was a lie. There were ways for people like Karin to gain spiritual powers. It was dangerous and painful, though… And Ichigo didn't want that for her.

"Urahara-san… Please keep the town safe for me."

"Of course, Mr. Kurosaki… I suppose I should call you _captain_ now, shouldn't I?" Kisuke asked, grinning widely. Ichigo shook his head.

"I wouldn't want to be called 'captain'. It sounds weird. Just keep Karakura safe. If you don't, I'll never forgive you…" Ichigo said resolutely, glaring at Kisuke, who blanched under Ichigo's cold stare.

He grinned, though, and nodded. And with that, Ichigo smiled and said goodbye one more time, and then turned with Rukia to the Senkaimon into Soul Society. It would be permanent, this time. He was one of them, now. There was no going back anymore.

Riruka stood there, scowling. Was now the time for her to tell him how she felt about him? It seemed it. It was probably the last chance she would get for a fairly long while, and by the time he came back, she might have gotten a lot older. After a moment, and as Ichigo was just about to walk through the gate, she called out to him.

She couldn't stop, now. Ichigo turned around and looked at her. He was a little bit surprised. He hadn't expected her to even be there, let alone want to say anything. The two stared at each other for a moment, then she marched over to him, and stared him in the eyes, her magenta eyes narrowed.

Ichigo sort of wondered if she was angry at him for some reason.

"Now I think I know why I like you so much, Ichigo…!" She said, now refusing to look at him. Karin, Kisuke, Rukia, and the others all looked between the two of them, the surprise evident on their faces.

"You're just like that guy I fell in love with when I was seven! He was also a crude punk, but his heart was good, and just like you, he was always willing to sacrifice himself to help others! I don't know anything about Soul Society other than what Ginjo told us… And what he told us was none too flattering…!" Riruka continued, still not looking Ichigo in the eye.

Kisuke couldn't help but laugh at this statement. He didn't imagine that anything Kugo Ginjo could say about Soul Society was very flattering. No wonder all the Fullbringers hated Shinigami so much.

"All I can say is that I hope that Soul Society doesn't destroy you like it did to Ginjo! KUCHIKI! He's in your hands now… You're his superior officer, aren't you!?" She demanded. Rukia blushed at this thought. She couldn't argue that it wasn't true. She was a lieutenant, now.

"Y-yes… B-but I've never really…"

"Don't care! As his superior officer, it's your job to make sure he's safe! If he gets hurt, therefore, that means it's your fault, and I'll never forgive you!"

At this, Rukia smiled, and reached up, patting Riruka on the head, who pulled away irately from the contact.

"I'll miss you, too, Riruka-san…" She said. Rukia walked through at Ichigo's insistence, but he stayed behind and looked at Riruka.

"You're fifteen, right, Dokugamine-san?" Ichigo asked seriously. Riruka scowled and nodded.

"Just call me Riruka. Nobody's ever called me Dokugamine-san. I'm fifteen… Why do you care!?"

"You should go back to school. Try Karakura High. It's only a prefectural school, but if your only goal is to finish high school, then it'll do…"

"I dunno, Ichigo… I haven't been to school in over a year. I stopped going when I joined Xcution." Riruka said, looking shy and even nervous for a moment. Ichigo smiled. It was rare to see Riruka act like this.

"I know. It sounds kind of hollow coming from someone who's dropping out of high school, but it's good for you to go… And maybe you'll like it…"

Riruka snorted, and looked away from Ichigo. She wasn't planning to refuse to go. How could she when he asked her like that? It wasn't fair for him to make the request so personal, and right before he was about to leave her forever. She knew that she had to go to high school, now, if only to satisfy Ichigo.

"I was gonna do it, even without your stupid speech…" She said, her usual barbed tongue shining through as always. Ichigo laughed, and thanked Riruka. She didn't answer him, but when she was sure nobody was looking, she blushed and allowed a tear to fall. She would miss Ichigo, regardless of any protestations to the contrary.

Although Ichigo did feel sad leaving his friends and family behind, he smiled when he got to the other side, and saw that there were several people who had come out to meet them. The sun had now risen well over the horizon, and was sending its golden rays down on the earth below, warming all that it beheld.

Byakuya, Renji, Kensei, Ukitake, Toshiro, and even Soi Fon were there. Obviously, the Captain-Commander wasn't there. He was likely quite busy. Byakuya stiffly bowed to Ichigo, never once smiling, as was his wont.

"Hello, Kurosaki. I am slightly surprised that you agreed to Rukia's proposal…" He said mechanically. Ichigo tried to smile, but found that doing so in Byakuya's presence was difficult at best, especially since he was so damn stiff.

"Yeah…" He assumed that Rukia hadn't told him about their respective love confessions… Otherwise, Byakuya probably would have had a much colder disposition. Ichigo knew that despite Byakuya's eternally cool and placid demeanor, he actually cared a great deal about Rukia, although showing his emotions was difficult.

This time, though, he walked over to Rukia, and smiled at her. It was a small, thin smile, barely indicative of good humor. He put a hand on Rukia's head and ruffled her extraordinarily short hair. At this show of affection, Rukia gasped, and blushed at his touch. She was not used to Byakuya talking much to her, let alone touching her.

"You did well." Byakuya said. This seemed to surprise all the others as well. "Oh, just out of curiosity… How did you manage to get him to agree to join the Gotei Thirteen?" Byakuya asked. This was a real day of firsts for Byakuya. He never questioned anything, much less another's methods.

This was a problem, too… Rukia was fairly certain that if she told him what she and Ichigo had talked about, that her Nii-sama would be quite annoyed, if not downright furious. There was no use pretending that Byakuya wasn't cold toward Ichigo, nor that Byakuya would approve of her dating him.

"Um… Um…"

"She just told me that the Captain-Commander was inviting me, and I accepted. You see, I'm doing horribly at studying for my college entrance exams, anyhow, and if I don't get into college, there's not much I can do other than work at McDonalds or Sujet Courant, or something like that…"

The captains and lieutenants all looked blankly at Ichigo, as though he had two heads… Actually, having two heads wouldn't be that strange in Seireitei… As though he was talking in some strange language that none of them had ever heard. There. That's more like it.

"What is… McDonalds?" Toshiro asked.

"What is Sujet Courant?" Rangiku and Momo asked together.

"What are college entrance exams… And for that matter, college?" Ukitake asked blankly. Ichigo sighed. He had forgotten that short of their technology, Soul Society was stuck back in the Edo Era.

"You know? McDonalds? Fast food? French fries, burgers, chicken nuggets?"

They continued to look at him as though he was completely mad. Ichigo scowled, and Rukia pushed him off to the side. "Um… I think college is where Human students go after they finish their cursory education.

"Humans have to be tested before they can enter these "Colleges'", she said, putting quotes around the word college, "to determine whether they are worthy to enter said halls of higher learning. McDonalds is a low class restaurant in which quality is sacrificed in favor of expedience and Sujet Courant is a horror themed costume store in which people who enjoy dressing in costume every day pay high prices for low quality clothing…

"The people who work in Sujet Courant have gotten most areas of their bodies either pierced or tattooed, and are actually members of what the Humans call the Yakuza… Or rather, the Japanese mafia!"

"Ohhhhhh!" All the others said. Despite the fact that they had no idea what the Yakuza was, they all seemed reasonably impressed at Rukia's knowledge of the Human world. Ichigo couldn't help but feel his eyebrow twitching slightly. Is _that_ what Rukia thought of human stores? He was glad, now, that nobody had hired her as an advertiser.

"Captain-Commander… I have brought the one known as Ichigo Kurosaki to present himself before you…" Rukia said, bowing deferentially. Ichigo looked over, then followed her lead, kneeling on the floor and bowing to the middle aged looking man. Kyoraku smiled easily, and looked over his shoulder briefly, still resting on his elbow

"Very good, Rukia-chan… You may return to your duties." Kyoraku said informally, now bothering to turn around. Kyoraku was such a different type of leader than Yamamoto.

"Please don't call me that, Captain-Commander…" Rukia said, turning pink. She knew she shouldn't complain. After all, Kyoraku flirted with all the women… But he never did anything too inappropriate. He didn't respond to Rukia's complaint.

"Ichigo Kurosaki… Although we are not placing you in a seated position at the moment, we of Soul Society acknowledge your truly prodigious talent, and will assign you jobs accordingly. That means that you will be taking on some of the most dangerous work that Soul Society has to offer. Do you accept this with honor and dignity?"

"Yes." Ichigo said.

"Very well. Then you are also dismissed. You are now a member of 11th Division, under Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. I believe you and he are already acquainted…"

"Yes. I am." Secretly, Ichigo thought to himself that Zaraki would be happier to see him than he would be to see the captain, as he would probably have no choice but to fight the man when they saw each other. That was almost always the case. Ichigo sort of dreaded that meeting, one that could probably now tear half of Soul Society apart.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Hey! So you're Riruka Dokugamine, right!?" One girl asked, leaning in toward Riruka, who backed away nervously. She wasn't used to handling this many people at once… Especially when the attention was focused on her alone.

She stiffened slightly as another girl leaned in and smiled at her. What did those girls _want_? Did they just want to chatter away about inane topics like those gossip rags that they sold at newsstands? If she had wanted to hear that, she would've gotten one for herself…

"You've got really pretty hair! What kind of conditioner do you use?" The girl asked. Riruka gulped, trying to suppress the urge to hit this girl for asking such a stupid question.

"Do you use moisturizer on your skin?"

"I heard you know a bunch of seniors! Can you introduce us?" A third one asked. It was true that Riruka knew a few seniors, but she wouldn't introduce those girls to them. She wouldn't waste her friends' time with such imbeciles. She wondered if Orihime and Chad were this unintelligent when they were freshmen. Probably not. Orihime was airheaded, and clumsy, but never stupid.

That last question was finally more than Riruka could take. She shoved the girl aside, grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom, silently cursing her own terrible social skills, and the brainless girls that seemed to infest the world.

"Wait! Riruka! You dropped your hat… And this hat is really cute, too…" One of the girls said dejectedly.

"Nngh! Those stupid, asinine… Gahh! Even Inoue isn't this infuriating! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD!" She screamed out loud, right before speeding up and accidentally plowing headfirst into Tatsuki, and sending both of them flying, their respective papers and folders spilling everywhere.

Suddenly, everything seemed unnaturally silent. It was like they were waiting for one of the girls to say something… Either to apologize or to yell at the other. It turned out, contrary to Riruka's normal nature, she spoke first.

"Sorry… I guess I wasn't looking where I was going…" Riruka said through gritted teeth, having turned a deep crimson from embarrassment and anger. She wasn't enjoying apologizing, but she just wanted to get out of that damn building as quickly as she could.

"No… Don't worry about it. I should have been paying attention…" Tatsuki replied, offering Riruka a hand to help her stand up. Riruka refused, though, and stood up on her own, leaning over again immediately to try to determine which papers were hers, no mean feat, considering the fact that they had been scattered everywhere, exacerbated by the fact that she was extremely nearsighted.

She squinted, trying hard to make the papers come into focus, but even only a foot in front of her face, it was just blurry figures to her. She absolutely refused to wear glasses, though, and contact lenses hurt her eyes… made them dry out too easily, and she had to keep putting eye drops in.

Her vision had gotten progressively worse since she was nine. She had always been a little bit vain about her appearance, though, and didn't want to wear glasses because she thought they looked geeky.

"Are you alright?" Tatsuki asked, looking down over Riruka, who slapped Tatsuki's hand away irately and snarled at her.

"I'm fine! Sometimes I just have trouble seeing!"

"You mean you're nearsighted?" Tatsuki asked curiously. "I think I have a pair of glasses in my bag. You can borrow them if they'll help." She said, reaching into her bag and shuffling around inside it.

"I don't want your damn glasses! Just leave me alone!" Riruka snapped, on the verge of tears now. She never remembered school being this frustrating in the past. Had she really become so socially inept? Or was it everyone else? Either way, she didn't like it. At this, Tatsuki felt rather hard done. She had only wanted to help Riruka after she ran into her. The girl didn't seem very grateful.

"You sure are crabby! What the hell's your problem!?" Tatsuki demanded. Hearing Tatsuki talk back to her, Riruka stood up.

"My problem? This whole damn _school_ is my problem! Ichigo asked me to enroll in this stupid place filled with asinine, dimwitted _children_ who have nothing better to do than carry on asinine, dimwitted conversations about hair and skincare!" Riruka screamed, heedless of the fact that the two of them had now drawn a fairly large crowd.

After a moment, Riruka calmed down, and seemed to realize where she was. She turned bright red and cleared her throat, kneeling down again and going back to trying rather helplessly to find her papers among the scattered mess. Tatsuki felt a bit more sympathetic now, though, realizing that Riruka was just a little bit awkward, and handed her a case with her glasses in it.

"Will you at least wear these until you find all your papers? Let me help you. I think some of my work is in there, too… And what are _you all_ looking at!? Show's over! Get out!" She demanded, looking up at the crowd, who now began to back away, not wanting to invoke the wrath of either girl, but not sure which one was more frightening; the one who was well known for her skill in martial arts, or the one who had just managed to send the martial artist flying.

"Thanks…" Riruka said shortly, turning a light shade of pink, refusing to look Tatsuki in the eye, but taking the glasses and putting them on her face. Immediately, she saw the difference. Although they were far from perfect, they at least allowed her to see nominally well enough to see her name on her papers.

"So, you know Ichigo as well? Are you secretly a Shinigami? What's your name?" Tatsuki asked. Riruka stiffened at this question and glared at her.

"Hell no! I'm nothing like one of those losers! I'm a Fullbringer. And my name is Riruka Dokugamine!"

"A what, now? I don't think I've ever heard that title before. How is that written?" Tatsuki asked, referring to the Kanji used to form the word.

"Full Manifestation Art. But it's…"

"Tatsuki-chan! Riruka-chan!" Came a voice from down the hall. Riruka sighed. It was _her_. It wasn't that she disliked Orihime… But something about her made Riruka feel uncomfortable.

"And Yasutora is here, too?" Riruka asked.

"Hi…" Chad said, keeping his usual stoic personality. Chad was surprised to see Riruka there. He hadn't been told that Riruka was going back to school, and in fact, was certain that she was still just hanging out at Urahara Shoten.

"You know each other?" Tatsuki asked quizzically, scratching her head.

"Hell yeah, we know each other! We used to work together…"

"Oh, yeah!?" Tatsuki asked, smiling cheerfully. "Where'd you two work?"

"Xcution. It's a store in the next town over." Riruka lied. She had gotten good at lying over the years. Tatsuki grimaced at this, but accepted her answer. It sounded like a weird store. 'Xcution'. She could only assume that it was some Goth joint. She could sort of see Riruka working there… But she couldn't see Chad doing it.

"Riruka-chan!" Orihime said loudly, hugging Riruka, causing the young Fullbringer to stiffen at the contact. She wasn't used to people touching her.

"I didn't know you were enrolling in our school! That's great! We can have lunch together!" Orihime said cheerfully. Riruka looked away, rolling her eyes slightly. She hadn't even once thought to eat lunch with Orihime or the others.

She just wanted to be left alone until she graduated. "Riruka-chan…" Orihime said, releasing the girl, and looking into her eyes with concern. "What's wrong?" She asked. Riruka glared at her, and then looked promptly away.

"Nothing's wrong!" She snapped.

"Don't tell me nothing's wrong. You look upset…"

"If I said nothing's wrong, then nothing's wrong!" Riruka yelled, causing Orihime to jump slightly, not used to people being so angry at her. She tried to make friends with people, so when someone wasn't friendly with her, it was a little bit surprising.

"Well, alright… Oh my God! You got glasses! They're so cute on you!" Orihime squealed, holding Riruka still by her shoulders. Riruka blushed and looked away, scowling.

"They're not mine! I'm borrowing… Um… What was your name, again?" She asked, looking over at Tatsuki.

"Tatsuki Arisawa…"

"Right… Arisawa… I'm borrowing her glasses… I hate glasses! They make me look nerdy…" Riruka pouted. Orihime shook her head though, and looked at Riruka extremely seriously.

"No! I think you look great in glasses! They're really cute on you! If you can't see well, you should buy a pair!"

"I don't have any money!" Riruka snarled at Orihime, showing a level of vehemence that seemed disproportionate to the situation.

"But… You always wear such cute clothes! I thought for sure you had at least some money…" Orihime complained.

"No! That jerk, Yukio always paid for everything! I bet he's still got the tab for what I owe him!" Everyone around Riruka wondered at how she could keep ranting and raving so easily. Usually someone calmed down after a few minutes, but Riruka had been angry for almost half an hour. If anyone thought that this didn't bode well for the rest of Riruka's day… They were right.

The best part of her day was when lunch came and she could hide up on the roof. She seriously considered doing this for the rest of the day, passing her time by daydreaming, or finding a side with no windows and jumping. That way, she could leave the school altogether. She had had quite enough of irritating teachers, and dimwitted classmates. Orihime's friends weren't so bad, though.

 _She said I look cute in those glasses… Maybe it couldn't hurt to get a pair. I suppose I could always ask the old man if I could borrow some money. I'd probably have to work it off in his damn candy store… That girl Tatsuki was really beautiful…_

 _How does Ichigo manage to have all the good looking friends? Am I the only average looking one in the bunch? Even Ichigo's girlfriend is stunning. She may be tiny, but something about her is a little breathtaking…_

 _A sort of graceful beauty… But now I can't even see Ichigo anymore. That stupid bitch stole him away from me. I knew I didn't have a chance with him, but she even made it so I can't even see his face any longer._

Riruka brooded over this for a while, not touching the food that she had brought. For some reason, she wasn't hungry. She was just really depressed.

 _Maybe that jerk, Yukio was right. Maybe there really is something wrong with me… How else could I explain why I have so much trouble making friends?_

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door opening, and a shortish, blonde haired boy walk out onto the roof and stand there next to her by the door.

"Boy! It sure is a nice day…" He said, loudly enough to bring Riruka around.

"HOLY SHIT! Y-Yukio!? D-d-don't sneak up on me like that, you bastard!"

"I didn't sneak up on you. Last time I checked, the roof was open to everyone."

"Yeah! To _students_!" Riruka countered, standing up angrily. Then, she gasped. She had been so sure that Yukio had died after their defeat at the hands of the Shinigami.

"You bastard! Why didn't you say goodbye to me!?" Riruka demanded angrily, hugging Yukio rather more tightly than he would have liked, despite the fact that she was angry at him.

"Could you please get off me? I don't need to feel your breasts rubbing against me… Small though they may be." Yukio said disinterestedly. In truth, though, he was trying to suppress the blush that was creeping its way up his neck and across his face. Riruka growled and shoved Yukio off of her.

"You're the same as ever, I see… Did you just come here to make fun of me!? If so, then leave! I'm not in the mood!" Riruka snarled, advancing angrily on Yukio and poking him rather harshly in the chest to the point that it almost hurt.

"It's nice to see you, too, Riruka…" Yukio replied sardonically.

"It seems you've already made quite a first impression… Did you really get asked what _shampoo_ you use?" Yukio asked, breaking into a laugh. Hearing him admit that he thought the same things that she did helped Riruka feel a little bit better, even if it was Yukio. After a few minutes, Yukio heard Riruka giggling as well. She was cute when she laughed.

"Still… I don't know if you should have called them 'asinine' and run out of the classroom like that. That Tatsuki girl is still wondering if you've got all your marbles in there…"

"And what did you tell her?" Riruka asked threateningly…

"I told her you spilled them a while ago, but that you managed to find most of them…" Yukio said with a genuine smile, rather than the cold, fake smile he usually gave.

" _You_ think I'm ugly, too, don't you!?" Riruka shouted at him, pointing right in Yukio's face, forcing him back a few inches.

"How did we go from 'crazy' to 'ugly' exactly?" Yukio asked, fairly sobered, now, from her yelling at him again. She truly never did change… She was able to have long, one sided conversations about irrelevant topics. He probably could have said nothing, and she would have just kept on ranting, acting as though he was answering every question, rather than none of them.

"Answer the question!"

She was making progress. At least she acknowledged that he hadn't yet answered, rather than continuing to have a one-sided fight.

"Why should I? If I say you are, you'll get mad at me, and if I say you aren't, you'll accuse me of lying. You're a lot of things, Riruka. You're annoying, insane, immature, ill tempered, selfish, shameless, thick-headed, airheaded, and annoying… You're not ugly, though…"

For a moment, Riruka didn't say anything. It was unlike Yukio to actually be nice to someone for a change. Then she realized that he had insulted her while he was at it. And besides…

"You said 'annoying' twice, Yukio."

"You're pretty damn annoying, Riruka. I think the only person I've ever met who actually _isn't_ annoyed by you is that Orihime chick… And I think she might have a few screws loose, herself."

"Fine…" Riruka said grudgingly, glancing away from Yukio. "What's so annoying about me, anyway, though?" She asked. Yukio looked at her blankly. Had she really just asked him that? First off, any reasonable person would be able to figure out the multitudinous ways in which she annoyed everyone around her…

But beyond that, he was pretty sure that in the past that even if he confronted her with every flaw she had, she wouldn't accept them as true, anyway. Maybe she wasn't such a hopeless case, after all.

"I'd need over a terabyte of data on a computer, writing in size 8 font single spaced with quarter inch margins to list all the ways in which you annoy people…" Yukio sighed, unable to keep his habitually sarcastic comments to himself.

Naturally, he was exaggerating quite a bit. In truth, most of the ways in which she was annoying just came down to her being extremely childish. Before he knew it, though, Riruka was speaking again.

"Did you come to collect the money I owe you?" She asked hostilely, though feeling a little bit nervous. The truth was that if he really wanted to get his money that day, there wasn't a lot that she would be able to do to defend herself, especially considering she didn't have anything that she could shrink him into…

She guessed that she could shove him in her backpack if she really wanted to, but he could probably use Invaders Must Die to get out. That would leave them at a stalemate, or maybe he would trap her in Invaders Must Die, and leave her there until she agreed to pay him back.

"Money? What money?" Yukio asked blankly, honestly confused about Riruka's question.

"The money that you so incessantly reminded me that I owe you for the clothes, and shoes, and stuffed animals, and…"

"Oh yeah… That money… You know, I think I must have misplaced your tab, and I can't for the life of me remember that number…" Yukio lied, smiling. "I guess if I can't remember it, I can't really expect you to pay it…" At this, Riruka gaped at him. There was no way Yukio would ever forget how much money someone owed him.

"You know, Riruka… You're pretty, but looks alone won't get you through life… If you don't have the social skills to…" Yukio began. Riruka promptly cut him off, though.

"You're discounting all cable television with that statement. Besides, I don't need to listen to this! I never needed these social skills in the past!" Riruka raged, advancing on Yukio again, pushing him almost to the bars that protected people on the roof from falling.

"You've never lived with normal people in the past. If you want, I could give you a job at my company. You always seemed to have good fashion sense. I was considering adding a clothing line to my company soon. I could hire you as a fashion designer.

You wouldn't have to bother talking to anyone. You could just draw chic designs and then make a prototype of it on a sewing machine. We all know how much you love to buy clothes…" Yukio said with a good natured laugh. Was he being serious? Was he making fun of her? She couldn't tell… And that annoyed her.

"If you're making fun of me, cut it out, shorty…"

"If you're gonna work for me…" Yukio said with more than a little laughter in his voice, "you'll have to call me _sir_ , or Mr. Vorarlberna… Hehehe…"

"Why you… I can't even _spell_ that, much less pronounce it!"

"What's that?" Yukio asked teasingly, putting a hand up to his ear. "You _don't_ want the job?"

"Well…" Riruka said irately, refusing to look at Yukio. "I might accept if I thought you were being serious."

Yukio thought for a moment, but then slapped his forehead. "Of _course_! No wonder you haven't been taking me seriously! I talked to _Jackie_ after the incident! I thought it was you! I told her that I'd come back in three years after I'd made the company three times bigger, and give you all jobs.

I already see that I was right in thinking you guys couldn't get on without me. It's a little bit earlier than expected, but I've made real progress with my company, and the clothing line will bring us even further."

"Well… Anything is better than this damn place… I'll do it. When do I start, Mr… Mr. Vora…"

"Just call me Yukio, Riruka… I'm not the CEO of the company. I only own it behind the scenes. After all, how could a fifteen year old possibly own a whole company? I've already arranged the position with Mr. Mitsuhiro. Just be in his office on Monday, and he'll get you started. Oh, you'll have to wear glasses if you're going to have a job involving precision like this."

"What!? I ha…"

"I know. But I have a solution that I think might work for you. I know a woman who makes custom glasses. She might be able to design a pair that would suit you."

"You sure are going out of your way to help me…" Riruka said suspiciously, narrowing her eyes and stepping away from Yukio, as though deciding that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to be so close to him.

"What do you plan to get out of this?" She asked. Yukio pretended to think for a moment. The truth was that he wanted to spend more time around Riruka, although his pride wouldn't allow him to admit that. He could come and go anytime in the company building. Using his Invaders Must Die, he could get into any room any time for any reason. It was convenient.

On the other hand, it was true that Riruka had talent in design, and seemed to have a fairly good eye for clothing. He had seen some of the costumes she sewed for herself. She was talented. And for that reason as well, he wanted her in his clothing department.

"Me? I get the additional money that would come into the company as a result of having a clothing line. What else do I need to get out of it? Money is the greatest motivator of all."

"You sure are a strange guy, Yukio…"

"Ah, Miss Dokugamine!" Came a friendly, cheerful voice from inside the glasses shop. Riruka gasped as she was swept inside the small business, and led to a back room, where the woman sat her down, and pulled a machine up to her.

"Wow!" The woman said brightly. "You're really pretty! Yu-chan said you were attractive, but I had no idea you were so _adorable_!" The woman exclaimed, blushing slightly, and squealing with delight. She was also dressed oddly, in almost Victorian fashion, with extremely baroque hair, and wire rimmed spectacles, and white gloves that went up to her elbows. Riruka wasn't sure what she thought was

funnier… The fact that Yukio had called her "attractive", or that this woman called him "Yu-chan".

"Don't worry about a thing, Miss Dokugamine! With an amazing face like that, I'm sure I can make a pair of glasses that will go beautifully with it! Now, look at the chart on the wall, cover your right eye and read the fourth line from the bottom!"

Riruka squinted hard, covering her eye as she was ordered, and leaning forward. Alas, though, it was no good.

"I-I can't… I can't see a damn thing…" She muttered sheepishly, feeling embarrassed, now that she was so nearsighted.

"That's alright. Try covering your left eye, now."

"Um… 'R', 'L'… 'G'…"

"Try reading the next line up… Use your left eye first…"

Riruka squinted again, covering her right eye. It was irritating to have to do this… She hated going to the doctor, even if it was just the optometrist. She had bad experiences with doctors. Her doctor when she was a child was an old, mean bitch.

It took about half an hour to do all the tests that she needed on her eyes, but when she was done, the optometrist took her aside and measured her face, including the circumference of her head, the distance between her eyes and her ears, and then took a truly hideous pair of glasses and took a deep breath, touching them.

Riruka gasped as the glasses began to warp and fuse in different places, eventually turning into a smaller, and sleeker pair of glasses with silver wire half rims that went under the glasses, holding them together. The woman then blew on them and handed them to Riruka.

"There you go, Miss Dokugamine! Try them on!" She said, her breath hitched in anticipation. Riruka slid the glasses on her face and gasped. The entire world seemed so much clearer. She remembered back when she was a child and she didn't need glasses. Things seemed even clearer than then. It was like these glasses enhanced her vision beyond the norm.

"Ahaha! I get that a lot, sweetie! My glasses do tend to have that effect. Your vision should be _better_ than perfect, now. I'm not entirely sure how they do that, but they do… Don't worry about the bill. Yu-chan asked me to give you this note. I didn't read it." She said cheerfully, taking out a plain, sealed envelope.

Riruka took the envelope, and opened it, reading the letter inside. As was Yukio's wont, it was rather smug and succinct.

 _Riruka,_

 _You can thank me for the cool glasses when next we meet. Don't worry about the bill… I'll take it out of your first paycheck. Just so you know, you're the first of the Fullbringers to come work for me. Be grateful that I'm giving you such an awesome job._

 _Yukio_

"You sure are a strange guy, Yukio…"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Let's see… I can sort of feel Ichi-nii's reiatsu, but with all these people around, it's kind of hard to pinpoint him. Geez, this is annoying…" Karin said to herself, walking leisurely around Soul Society, having stolen a uniform, and managed to blend in fairly well, save for the fact that she didn't have a sword. Fortunately, most people weren't paying attention to that.

She had only needed to introduce herself as Ichigo's younger sister to a giant gorilla who was guarding the front gate in Soul Society, and she managed to get in, and it was fortunate that nobody was there at the moment. The only problem was that although she was able to walk more or less in the open, she was now completely lost.

Seireitei, as Kisuke had called it, was huge. He had asked if she wanted someone to go with her as a guide, but she had told him rather foolishly that she would be able to find him on her own. KAMI!

What a stupid, stupid, stupid idea that had been, and suddenly, she made it worse by slamming into an old man with a laid back look, a terribly gaudy pink cloak, and a hat on that covered a long ponytail.

"Oh… Um… Excuse me, Ojii-san… My name…"

"You don't have to tell me your name, sweetie… Just tell me what a human is doing in Soul Society."

"Well… You see… I need to find my brother… He should be here… Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"Oh, right! You're… Karin-chan, correct?"

"Um… Yeah…" Karin said, surprised that Kyoraku knew who she was.

"Great. You may not remember, but I was the one who came to your house to tell you and your family that Ichigo was going to be in Soul Society for a stretch. Gosh… That was a few months ago. I'm not surprised you don't remember.

"You seem to have more than a human's fair share of spirit power. Otherwise, I doubt you'd last long in Seireitei. But why do you need to see your brother?" Kyoraku asked, kneeling down and putting a hand on Karin's shoulder.

Karin merely swatted his hand away from her, glaring at him. Nanao, who was standing a ways away, but who could still see their conversation, if not hear it, was slightly surprised at this young girl's audacity. Even she, as his lieutenant wasn't usually bold enough to be so blatantly rude to him.

It was true that she occasionally had to swat him with her fan or a book when he was making inappropriate advances on her. But compared to how he usually acted toward female Shinigami and especially toward Nanao, Kyoraku was being fairly appropriate, treating her almost as a young child.

"I want to become a Shinigami like him! I refuse to allow him to take on the whole burden on his own!" Karin yelled spiritedly, pumping her fist.

"A Shinigami. You wish to join the Shin'o Academy? How old are you? 50? 60?" The middle aged looking man asked, seeming surprised. Karin blanched at his assumption that she was so old.

"Excuse me!? I'm not even close! I'm thirteen! Thirteen! I'll be fourteen in a few months…"

"I see… Well, then, I will take you to see your brother, and he will have the right to decide whether you may become a Shinigami. Normally, I would ask Captain Kurosaki. But I assume that you already told him. If you haven't I'll know fairly soon, and it won't be good for you.

"That aside, I'll take you to Kurosaki." Suddenly, though, Kyoraku was called upon by Nanao. He had specifically asked that Nanao be transferred to his division when he became Captain-Commander.

"Um, Captain-Commander? I hate to be rude, but who is that human girl over there, or is she a new soul that just came to Soul Society?"

"No. She is Ichigo Kurosaki's younger sister." Kyoraku said placidly, taking Karin's hand firmly and leading her over to Shinji, who had been one of the people standing there, and he pushed her over to him.

"Captain Hirako. Please take this girl to see Kurosaki. He is probably training in the Squad 11 Barracks."

"Yes, Captain-Commander…" Hirako said, then he looked down and grinned lecherously at Karin.

"Hey, you're pretty cute. Hard to believe a guy like Kurosaki bagged you."

"Shut up, you perv! He's my brother! Don't you see the family resemblance?"

"Wait! Seriously? You two are _related_?"

"Um… Yeah… That's what I just said! Besides. Didn't you hear him call me his younger sister?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. I guess he did. Hey, you wanna be my woman?" Shinji asked, grinning stupidly with that wide smirk of his. Karin made a look of disgust, and shook her head.

"Ew, no! You couldn't pay me enough to be your girlfriend!" Karin shouted angrily, paying no mind to the fact that he was a captain, and should therefore be shown more respect.

At this, Shinji merely shrugged and continued leading her to the Squad 11 barracks. When they got there, Shinji opened the door, where Karin gasped as she saw Ichigo and Captain Zaraki sparring with wooden swords.

Both had a fair number of bruises on them, and looked as though they had been put through the wringer. When the door opened, though, they all stopped and looked up. Most of the squad stood and bowed to Shinji, except for Ichigo, who had a stunned expression on his face.

"K-Karin!? What the hell are you doing here!?" Ichigo exclaimed. Karin grinned, and gave him a thumbs up.

"I came because I wanted to be a Shinigami as well. But the old man said I had to ask your permission first.

"Didn't I tell you that humans can't become Shinigami? They have to die first and become souls."

"I'm willing to make that sacrifice." Karin said bluntly, shocking Ichigo at her openness to death.

"What about your life as a human?" Ichigo asked. Karin shrugged. "I'm willing to make that sacrifice." Karin said again with a smirk

"What about our family? Yuzu would be devastated if you left." Ichigo reasoned, trying as hard as he could to get her to change her mind.

"I don't think you understand just how far I'm willing to go for this. I'd miss Yuzu and Dad. But I'd get over it. It's you I miss most right now. It's been really lonely without you." Karin said sadly. "I just want to be near you."

At this, the other members of Squad 11 laughed, and Zaraki spoke.

"Was this your woman in the Human world, Ichigo?" He asked teasingly.

"Whoever she is, I admire her spirit! She's definitely worth having around!"

"NO! Sh-she's my sister! And she's not staying…" Ichigo said firmly, seeing the looks the other members were making at Karin.

"What!? That's not fair!" Karin complained.

"Not fair? That's about the same level as 'prove it' or 'make me'…" Ichigo said, raising an eyebrow at Karin.

"I don't care! I have to ask your permission to stay, but I won't stop trying until you let me! I'm just as talented as you are. I could surely at least make it into the Academy! I'll keep coming back over and over until you give me permission! I'll never stop harassing you! I'll wake you up at night! I'll interrupt you when you're with Rukia! I'll bother you during mealtime!"

"Karin…" Ichigo said, putting a hand on her shoulder, and kneeling down in front of her. Even after she had grown so much, she was still a fair deal shorter than he was. "Karin-chan…" Ichigo corrected himself.

"I'm not refusing you because I think you're incapable, or because I don't trust your judgment. I'm doing it because being a Shinigami is extremely dangerous. I've almost died plenty of times, and my survival was often due to sheer luck. I couldn't stand the thought of any of my family dying because I was careless."

"I still don't think it's fair." Karin complained.

"Let me tell you a story. If you still want to become a Shinigami after that, I'll agree. There was once a Shinigami named Sosuke Aizen. To the whole of Soul Society, he was the perfect captain. He was kind, generous, strong, and noble.

"But one day, during the time I had gone to Soul Society for the first time to rescue Rukia, he revealed his true colors. He murdered the entire governing council and defected to a place called Hueco Mundo, which is where Hollows live.

"He amassed an army of things called Arrancar, which are Hollows who removed their masks in order to gain Shinigami powers, and waged war on Soul Society with the ultimate goal of stealing 100,000 souls from Karakura Town to create a copy of the King's Key, which would allow him entrance to God's realm so that he could kill God and steal his place.

"He convinced two other captains to follow him, and they attacked Karakura Town. I was at that battle, and I had to learn to access a special power to defeat him. But there were grave consequences for learning such an ability. I lost my Shinigami powers and became a normal human again. But I chose to regain my Shinigami powers. Do you know why I chose to return to being a Shinigami?"

"W-why? Why would you willingly risk your life like that?"

"Because I wanted to protect you, and Yuzu, and Dad, and all of the other people of Karakura Town. Now, I can do that even better, because I can go anywhere in the world, and fight Hollows just the same.

"My life isn't worth living if my friends and family die because I couldn't protect them. Do you understand?" Ichigo asked, looking Karin straight in the eye. Karin stared at Ichigo for a moment, then nodded.

"I understand… But I still want to become a Shinigami, too. I want to be able to protect the people I love as well." Karin said, showing her strength more than ever, now. If anyone in the family had inherited their father's Shinigami abilities, it would be Karin.

Ichigo was sure that Yuzu would probably make a better Quincy, if, indeed, she was suited for such a life. Perhaps Yuzu was best off just being human. There was nothing wrong with being 'just Human'. Ichigo had been 'just Human for fifteen years, and lived a fine life. He had some weird talents that he had put to good use… But he didn't have anything like what he had now.

"Okay, Karin. Go out, and tell that perverted lecher that I gave my consent… Well… Both of those perverted lechers…"

"Which one is which…?" Karin asked with a grin.

"The one with the tacky pink cloak is the Captain-Commander. You'll have to call him 'Sir' or 'Captain-Commander'… But the other guy… Just call him Captain Hirako… And if he hits on you… Feel free to punch him."

"He already hit on me… Perverted bastard…" Karin muttered, blushing slightly.

"I wouldn't put too much stock in him. Do watch out, though, if you're put into his division when you graduate." Ichigo said. Karin shook her head, though.

"I want to be in your division when I graduate…"

"Oh, my…" Ikkaku sneered. " _Someone_ has a bit of a brother complex… Don't tell me you're a lolicon, Ichigo…"

"Shut up! I am _not_ a lolicon!" Ichigo snapped at Ikkaku. Karin seemed to go similarly red in the face.

"And I do _not_ have a brother complex! And I am _not_ a Lolita!" Karin yelled, completely incensed at their rudeness.

"Well, anyway, Karin. Tell them I told you it's fine to join the Academy. Do be careful, though. Old goat face would kill me if I let you get hurt on my watch…"

" _Finally_! We can get back to our fight! Do you want to use a wakizashi in your off hand, Ichigo?" Kenpachi asked. Ichigo grinned wildly, and nodded.

"Actually, yeah… That would help… I'm trying to get used to using two swords. Niten Ichi-Ryu ain't an easy style to learn…"

The other members of Squad 11 looked at Ichigo, mouths agape. None of them knew that Ichigo even _knew_ a word like Niten Ichi-Ryu… It was a sword style that samurai used back when samurai still existed. But, now, the style was almost extinct, as not many Shinigami, even, used two swords.

There were three Shinigami in all of Soul Society that used two swords. One was Captain-Commander Kyoraku. One was Captain Ukitake. And the third was Ichigo, himself.

He had only gained a two sword style recently when he discovered where he really came from and needed to reform his Zanpakuto. When he did, he found that his sword was split into two. The larger sword represented his Shinigami/Hollow hybrid powers, which he still possessed. The smaller one represented his Quincy powers, which he was still just beginning to master.

He occasionally worked with Zangetsu on his ability to control his Blut powers. He already had Blut Vene, but was working on Blut Arterie. Ichigo knew full well that when he mastered it, he would become a veritable fighting machine, which would allow him to protect the people he loved even more efficiently.

Ichigo snatched the wooden wakizashi out of the air as it was thrown to him, and immediately attacked with the bokken. Kenpachi grinned maniacally, and blocked, pushing Ichigo back fairly easily only for Ichigo to attack once more, now with both swords.

He then threw the bokken up in the air, and punched Kenpachi in the face, twisted around and kicked him before grabbing his bokken again. Kenpachi and the others laughed at this.

"Good! Good! You've gotten so much better since last time I fought you! If only I could have fights like this every day!" Ichigo grinned as well.

"Well, I dunno if I could manage every day… But I'm in your division, so I imagine that we'll be seeing a good bit of each other…"

"Good! I like your attitude! Bring it!" Kenpachi shouted, swinging his bokken down wildly, slamming it against Ichigo's practice swords, jarring Ichigo's arms all the way to his shoulders.

"Bakudo #1: Kai!" Ichigo shouted as Kenpachi was about to bring his sword down again. He had not practiced much with Kido, but he remembered what Kukaku said about Kido, and that you should imagine a sphere of energy in your mind.

The more clearly you imagined it, the stronger the Kido would be. Kenpachi growled as he felt his entire body freeze, causing the rest of Squad 11 to gasp. None of them had expected Ichigo to be able to use Kido. After all, he usually had such weak control of his reiatsu. But he had surprised all of them in the past with his growth rate. Kenpachi struggled for a moment, then broke the bonds.

"I'm impressed, Kurosaki… But next time, _don't_ bring Kido into a swordfight with me… I've lost interest. I'm gonna take a nap…" Kenpachi groaned, slouching off to bed with Yachiru fast in tow.

"Ichigo! Where the hell did you learn to use Kido? Especially Kido without the benefit of the incantation!" Ikkaku asked. Ichigo sighed.

"I didn't know if it would work. Bakudo #1 is one of the few Kido I can use. I remember that Rukia used it on me once…"

"Wow… You can use it just from having it used on you once? I've never been any good at Kido. It usually blows up in my face…" Ikkaku said.

"You really should call her Lieutenant Kuchiki… I know you two are close and all, but you're an official member of the Gotei Thirteen now, Kurosaki…" Yumichika said flipping his hair back behind his ear. Ichigo sighed.

"Well… I wonder what she'd say if I called her 'Lieutenant'…" Ichigo replied. Makizo snapped his fingers once, and nodded.

"Oh, yeah! You went on a date with Kuchiki just before you joined the Gotei Thirteen, didn't you? Don't worry… We won't say anything." He said, grinning at Ichigo. At this, Ikkaku stood, and grabbed a sword, walking over to Ichigo, and pointing it at him.

"Let's go. I'll take you on. You kicked my ass last time we fought. But I've gotten better since then."

"Ichigo nodded, and moved forward as Ikkaku did the same. But then, both of them froze, realizing that they had both had a Bakudo put on them, paralyzing them. After a mere moment or two, they were both released, and Byakuya Kuchiki walked in. The entire squad stood, and bowed to Byakuya.

"Hello, Captain Kuchiki…" They all said. Byakuya, however, only looked at Ichigo, and grabbed his arm, dragging him outside.

"Kurosaki… Know that despite my demeanor, I have nothing but respect for you. However, I know that you and Rukia have… Eloped… As the Humans say." Byakuya said sternly.

"Um… I don't think that's quite the right word, Byakuya…"

"It's Captain Kuchiki. If you are going to be a member of the Gotei Thirteen, you must address your superiors properly. What is it the Humans call it, then?"

"Um… Well… Dating, perhaps?"

"Yes. You and Rukia are dating. I cannot say that I object… Or rather, even if I did object, I know that Rukia would not listen, and that you certainly would not. But Rukia could have chosen a worse man to date.

"So, rather than fight a losing battle, I will simply inform you that Rukia is very important to me, and I will not allow her to come to harm."

"But…"

"Allowing her to become a lieutenant is different. She chose to become a Shinigami, and thus, she must accept that death may greet her at any time. If you hurt her, though, know that you will have made an eternal enemy of me.

"That is all. Beyond that… I trust you, Kurosaki Ichigo…" Byakuya said with his usual stoic, placid look on his face. Underneath, though, he seemed… Maybe a little bit worried?

"I won't hurt her, By… Captain Kuchiki…" Ichigo said. Then, "But how did you find out?"

"I have sources. You do not need to know what they are. Now, if we are done, I have other things to attend to." Byakuya finished, turning his back, and walking away. Ichigo called out and stopped him, though.

"You don't really trust me, do you?" Ichigo asked, feeling slightly unnerved by Byakuya's placid way of addressing his discovery of Ichigo's relationship with Rukia.

"It is not a matter of whether I trust you or not. I trust Rukia. However, I still expect you to show her the proper courtesy… At least in public, and address her as Lieutenant Kuchiki. I have made it clear to her as well that it is expected of one of your rank to address her as such in public, regardless of your relationship in private.

"I know that the Captain-Commander places a great deal of faith in you… And, given that you have the powers of all three major spiritual beings… I suppose I cannot fault him for that. However, that does not mean that you are above the rules and regulations of Soul Society. And it also does not mean that I will hesitate to strike you down if you violate them so flagrantly as you have done so often in the past."

"I don't doubt it, Captain Kuchiki." Ichigo said, forcing himself to use the proper title.

"Do not think that your mediocre rank as an unranked Shinigami will last forever. There is a good chance that you might fill the Commander General's former role as captain of eighth division." Byakuya said, reverting to his typical concise manner of speaking.

"What do you mean? There isn't someone who's been here longer who can take the role?"

"I would prefer not to outline the entire series of requirements for becoming a captain right now. It will take time, and as you seemed quite involved in sparring with Madarame-san, I should not hold you longer than I need to.

"You may enquire with the Captain-Commander. Now please excuse me. Good day, Ichigo Kurosaki." Byakuya said, turning once more, and suddenly disappeared in a shunpo of great speed that kicked up dust behind it.

Ichigo sighed, and walked back into the dojo. Since he didn't have anything else to do, he figured there was no reason not to continue sparring. He did need to get used to fighting with two swords. Despite the fact that he was now more or less ambidextrous, fighting with two swords was a different story.

Ichigo went in and looked through the bokken, finding a Suburito in the pile and taking it out, gripping it with his right hand, and taking the regular bokken in his left. He didn't need to use the wakizashi, as neither of his swords were that small or that light, and thus, wouldn't function in the same way as such a light weapon.

Ikkaku cocked his head, but shrugged and accepted Ichigo's choice of weapons. He walked forward, and bowed to Ichigo as Ichigo bowed to him as well, and then, Ikkaku smirked, and spoke.

"Hey, Kurosaki. Your sister is cute. Would you object to me dating her?" He asked with a wide grin. Ichigo sneered, disgruntled.

"You can try. But apparently, Shinji already was rejected by her. Good luck, though…"

"I've never struck out with the ladies! Now fight! And no cheap Kido this time! This ain't a real battle. It's sparring!" Ikkaku yelled, jetting forward, and swinging his sword as quickly as he could. Ichigo blocked rather proficiently for carrying two relatively heavy bokken, and then counterattacked.

The two sparred like that for a while, then, after a while, when they were both finally exhausted, and had been sparring for six hours without stop, they ceased, and sat down. Ichigo sighed, and groaned, his soreness finally catching up with him. He looked outside, and saw that the sun was setting already. He stood quickly, and walked outside to find Karin standing there with Toshiro.

"Captain Hitsugaya… I didn't know you and Karin were friends…" Ichigo said. Toshiro glowered at him, but didn't say anything more for a moment.

"I wouldn't consider us _friends_. I helped her and her friends win a soccer match, and she assisted me with some minor Shinigami business. Other than that, we barely know each other.

"I merely agreed to stay with her as it would be improper to leave a lady by herself after dark." Toshiro replied, bowing politely to Karin, and giving her a tight smile.

"It was good to see you again, Kurosaki-san. You as well, Kurosaki…" Toshiro said, starting to walk off.

"Call me Ichigo."

"Call me Karin…" The two siblings said at the same time.

"I refuse. We are not friends. We're scarcely acquaintances. Have a good evening." Toshiro said coldly, causing Karin to stick her tongue out at him, and sneer as he flash stepped away.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"So, Karin, what's up? You must've waited here for something. I can't believe that it was just to see me again." Ichigo asked, confused as to why a girl as independent as Karin was waiting around for him like some dewy eyed schoolgirl.

"Would you believe me if I said I got lost again?" Karin asked hopefully. Ichigo sighed. Normally, he would believe that. After all, it wasn't hard to get lost in the Seireitei. Most people found where they were going by tracing the spiritual pressure of the one for whom they were looking. That was why Kenpachi and Yachiru got lost so often, because they were terrible at directions, and even worse at tracing spiritual pressure.

"Come on, Karin… Tell me the real reason." Ichigo said. Karin blushed, and looked away from Ichigo, her face thrown into strange shadow in the waning light.

"I-I just wanted to spend time with you. I love you, Ichi-nii… I know you're involved with Kuchiki, but that doesn't change how I feel about you… Tell any of those pervs in there that I said that, and I'll personally use the Garrote on you." Karin said, changing from being deeply sentimental to threatening at a moment's notice. Ichigo smiled weakly.

He was surprised. A bunch of girls around him, with whom he had been close for a long time, seemed into him. First was Orihime, who confessed to him, but seemed unsurprised when he turned her down… That lost him a lot of points with the other guys in the school, who couldn't fathom why he wouldn't want a girlfriend like Orihime. They didn't understand, though. They couldn't see just how incredible Rukia was. 

Then, he found out that Riruka also liked him… Actually, that should've been a dead giveaway. She always acted so strangely around him, and occasionally, he caught her muttering about him under her breath, and occasionally out loud. He always just assumed that she was just eccentric like that, though.

So he didn't pay it any mind until Riruka confessed out loud to him. And now, even his own sister was confessing to him… It wasn't that he was weirded out or anything by Karin confessing to him. He was just a bit surprised. He was so much older than she was, and as pretty as she was, he was sure that she would have found a boyfriend her own age already.

"Thanks, Karin-chan… But, if you came here to chase me, then you should go home." Ichigo said, not trying to sound mean. He knew what it meant to be a Shinigami. It meant protecting everyone, regardless of how loathsome they seemed.

It meant putting your life on the line for everyone, whether you knew them or not. It meant dedicating your life to a cause from the minute you picked up your Zanpakuto.

"You can't join the Gotei Thirteen just because you want to be near me. You have to do it because…"

"Because I want to protect humanity. Dad told me all this already. I explained my decision to him and Yuzu-chan. Dad said he didn't like my decision, but that he couldn't stop me. He also said to tell you that if you ever give into your lust and take your beautiful sister's innocence, that he'll come up here personally and beat you down himself."

"Ahaha! That sounds like something he'd say. Did you tell him that I'm already dating Rukia, who I'm now supposed to address as Lieutenant Kuchiki?"

"Call me that again, and I'll have to give serious thought to being offended…" Came a voice from the roof. Rukia jumped down and walked over to Ichigo and kissed him.

"Hey, Karin-chan… I think it's sweet that you love your brother so much. But the Captain-Commander told me to tell you to get yourself to bed. Now, hurry. Ichigo, I can't tell you what to do… Or rather, I never could. You would never listen, anyhow…"

"Bite me, Lieutenant Kuchiki…" Ichigo said confrontationally. Rukia laughed, and spoke again.

"You should speak more politely to your superior, though, given what I've heard, I may not be for long. Good night…" Then, Rukia took Karin's hand and led her off. Strangely, Karin didn't even think to complain.

When Karin and Rukia were a fair distance away from Ichigo, Karin turned to the lieutenant, and started talking.

"I… Haven't eaten dinner, yet, and I'm starving… Is there anywhere to eat around here? You don't need to stay with me. Just drop me off. I'll find my way back on my own." Karin said, not wanting to cause undue trouble. Rukia smiled, though, and shook her head.

"Don't worry. Your money's no good here, anyhow. There's a place right down the street. Do you drink sake?"

"Of course not! I'm thirteen! I'm underage!" Karin snapped.

"But I do like spicy food. The hotter the better…"

"Ah… Oh dear… I'm afraid I've never had the stomach for spicy things. But, there are some spicy dishes where I'm thinking of. Here it is." Rukia said, laughing sheepishly, leading Karin inside, and immediately being led to a table, where they sat, and were handed menus.

"Hm… This place is pretty nice. Somehow, I can't imagine Ichi-nii coming here in a million years. By the way… Did Ichi-nii attend the Shin'o Academy? I've heard that it's a six year curriculum, but Ichi-nii couldn't have been going for six years. He hasn't even been a Shinigami that long." Karin observed. Rukia sighed, and shook her head.

"No. Ichigo was never a student at the Shin'o Academy, though he would have benefitted from spending a little time there. He would have learned the customs that most students learn their first year, and the other forms of combat. Ichigo has a long way to go before he can really be a balanced combatant. There are forms other than physical fighting in Soul Society.

Kido, Hoho, Hakuda and Zanjutsu. Of those four styles of combat, Zanjutsu is what Ichigo is strongest at. His Hoho is pretty strong, actually, but his Kido is nearly nonexistent, and most of the other forms have taken a backseat to his talent with his sword, given that was the fastest way for him to gain the power he needed to fight the battles he needed to fight… Ah, hello… Karin… Do you know what you want?"

"Yes. I'd like the Kimchi Jjigae, please."

"Anything to drink?" The waiter asked politely. Karin just asked for water. Then, the waiter turned to Rukia, who asked for the beef stew and milk. The waiter bowed politely, and walked off.

"So, you're not a fan of spicy things, Rukia?"

"No… Just to tell you, you will have to start referring to me as Lieutenant Kuchiki once you join the Shin'o Academy. But for now, Rukia is fine."

"Ichi-nii will also have to call you Lieutenant? But he's supposed to be your boyfriend…" Karin protested, feeling that Ichigo was really getting the short end of the stick here.

"In public, that doesn't matter. He'll only need to call me Lieutenant in front of other people. It wouldn't be prudent to let on that Ichigo and I are dating. It does happen on occasion that an unseated Shinigami and a lieutenant or even a captain fall in love.

"But it can't be allowed to affect their judgment."

"Well… Just know that if you ever hurt Ichi-nii… I guess I'd have to set my old man on you. He may look like an old geezer, but he was actually a captain in his day as a Shinigami."

"I'll keep that in mind. It's sweet how much you care for your brother. I'm sure you'll become a great Shinigami. Ah… That was fast."

"Here are your dinners, ladies. Enjoy…" The waiter said, bowing politely and walking off.

Rukia began eating her stew slowly, whereas Karin dug in immediately, and plowed right through it, finishing before Rukia was even halfway done. So Karin simply waited while Rukia finished. Rukia looked up and spoke.

"So, did you have a boyfriend or anything down in the Human world?" She asked with a polite smile. Karin frowned, and shook her head.

"No. One boy asked me out once, and I said yes. But when I told him there was a ghost behind him, he just laughed at me. That was the end of it. I didn't think he would likely believe me. But he could have at least not laughed at me."

"Well… Most Humans can't see ghosts. They simply don't have the spiritual energy to see through the mundane. Karakura is, admittedly, a city rife with spiritual energy… A spiritual hotspot if you will. There are a few of them in the world. Amityville, New York is one.

"Paris, France is another one, known mainly for the Rue D'Ausseil. The whole of Paris, though, is in fact a hotspot. Hotspots change over time, though, just as the magnetic poles move by micrometers every year. Who knows where these hotspots will be in 1000 years?"

"Will we still be around in 1000 years?" Karin asked. At this, Rukia laughed, though she wasn't laughing at Karin's question directly.

"We should. Assuming we don't die in combat, there's no reason that we shouldn't still be alive. The former Commander General was over 10,000 years old when he died."

"D-did he die of old age?"

"Of course not. He was killed by Yhwach, the king of the Quincies." Rukia snapped.

"Sorry. What's a Quincy?" Karin asked with an eyebrow raised. Rukia sighed.

"You mean your father really _never_ informed you of who your mother was?"

"He told me enough!" Karin responded, sounding rather defensive.

"Obviously, he didn't. Your mother was a pureblooded Quincy. That means that, like Shinigami, she had spiritual energy, and could fight Hollows. She drew her powers from a slightly different source, and used them differently. I don't know much about Quincies. If you want a crash course in them, you can always ask Captain Kurotsuchi…

"Just don't agree to be a subject in ANY of his experiments, no matter what he offers you. He is… Slightly insane… Actually, maybe you should forego that. I can tell you a little bit about Quincies. Actually, one of Ichigo's friends is a Quincy, though.

"I suppose they would be enemies, now, considering Uryu joined Yhwach and the rest of the Vandenreich. Uryu is dead, now. Ichigo had to kill him in the final war with the Quincies. I think it hurt him a lot to have to do so, so please don't mention Uryu around him."

"Wait… Is he that slightly effeminate guy with the glasses who sewed a blue cross on the back of Kon's head?" Karin asked, raising an eyebrow. Rukia snickered at this description of Uryu. She would definitely agree that he was 'slightly effeminate'.

"Yes. That's him… But… Look at the time. I'll take you to the Shin'o Academy, and you'll get your uniform, and go to sleep immediately. Your roommate will wake you up in the morning to get ready."

"Great. What do I owe you for the meal, Rukia?" Karin asked frankly. Rukia sighed.

"You don't owe me anything. And you have to get used to calling me Lieutenant Kuchiki, now. If my Nii-sama heard you addressing me so informally, he'd…"

"Be incensed?" Came a deep and smooth, but icy cool voice from behind Karin, who jumped. She hadn't sensed anyone approaching. She was pretty good at reading spiritual pressure. But with the overflowing level of spirit energy in Soul Society, it was hard to get a reading on anything.

"I will definitely say, Miss Kurosaki, that you are as rude as your elder brother… However, you seem slightly more sophisticated and cultured than he is. I will return you to the Shin'o Academy. Rukia, you may go back home."

"Nii-sama… I still have to pay…" Rukia said meekly.

"Very well. Do so, and hurry home. It would not do to be out too late. Let us go, Miss Kurosaki…"

"Um… S-sure… Um… W-what should I call you, sir?" Karin asked sheepishly. Byakuya looked down at the girl, and offered a thin smile.

Karin felt sure that this was about as much as she could hope for from him.

"Captain Kuchiki will be fine."

"Th-then… Y-you really are R… Rather, Lieutenant Kuchiki's brother?" Karin asked. She felt it was likely, given how similar they looked. Their hair, their eyes, even the way they spoke.

"That is a long story. If you wish to hear it, I will indulge you as we walk to the Academy." Byakuya said quietly, looking toward the door, and leading Karin toward it.

"It was a long time ago, actually, that Rukia and I met. I am certainly older than I look, as is Rukia. I guess it would be about 110 years ago that I first met Rukia. She was an orphan in Rukongai, and her elder sister, my wife, had just died. That is an even longer story, and I will not tell it without Rukia's permission. But I adopted Rukia in accordance with Hisana's wishes.

"I would have gladly done anything for Hisana. She was an amazing woman. She was not a Shinigami, and was frail and sickly. But I loved her like no other. When she died, I was crushed. But I honored her wish for me to find Rukia in Rukongai, and adopt her. Unlike Hisana, who was not particularly strong, or spiritually potent, Rukia had the skills of a Shinigami in surfeit.

"So I enrolled her in the Shin'o Academy, and she graduated and became a Shinigami like most of the Kuchiki Family. The Kuchikis are one of the four great noble families. One other of note is the Shihoins. The Shibas used to be a noble family. I could not tell you how they fell from grace. However, your father was once named Isshin Shiba. He changed his name. That is all you really need to know."

"Oh… Good evening, Captain Kuchiki…" Came Toshiro's voice from maybe fifteen feet away. Karin waved.

"Hey, Toshiro…"

"It's Captain Hitsugaya! What are you even doing here, Kurosaki? You aren't a spirit. You aren't a Shinigami… You have no business in the Seireitei."

"Oh… Funny story, actually. I'm going to become a Shinigami. Ichi-nii said I could stay and become a Shinigami. I'm just headed to the Shin'o Academy to head to my dorm room."

"I know. That doesn't mean that you should That doesn't mean that you're any smarter than your brother, trying to tread where you scarcely belong." Toshiro said, not sounding a bit impressed. "Well… I don't doubt that you'll do better than your brother would. The only thing he's ever been good at was swinging his oversized stick around…" Toshiro said with a snort of disdain.

"He still wasn't happy that Ichigo became a Shinigami without having to go through the years of the Shin'o Academy. It was true that he was far too advanced for most of the classes. Zanjutsu and Hoho, he was exceedingly talented in, and was even able to match Aizen with his skill."

"That's so not true!" Karin snapped, quite forgetting, and frankly, not caring that Toshiro was a captain.

"Ichi-nii is the best martial artist I know! He could probably fight in national tournaments if he wanted, even without his Shinigami powers! But he's just never been interested."

"Fine. He's got basic Hakuda down, then. But his major problem is his lack of anything even resembling Reiatsu control. That means he can't use Kido properly."

"Kido? I don't understand… What the hell is Kido?"

"Demon Arts. It's magic. Don't look at me that way, Kurosaki. If you can believe in ghosts, why can't you believe in magic? Kurosaki's Reiatsu control is so poor that he'd more likely blow himself up than hurt the opponent." 

"Ichi-nii could learn Kido if he wanted to! He probably just doesn't need it!"

"Right…" Toshiro said impatiently. "That man could _never_ learn Kido. He's impatient, undisciplined, and uncultured."

"I bet you anything Ichi-nii could learn Kido in two months if he wanted to!" At this, Byakuya looked over at Karin skeptically. Ichigo was good at many things. Calm concentration and focus wasn't one of them.

"Really?" Toshiro asked, still wearing the same deadpan look on his face.

"And if he were to somehow succeed in learning Kido in two months, especially considering that it takes most Shinigami at least a year to even get the basics, what would you want out of me?"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? I just wanna see the look on your face when Ichi-nii shows you up!"

"Fine." Toshiro said in resignation.

"What do I have to do if you win?"

"If I win, you have to promise that you won't be as incompetent in Kido as Kurosaki is." Toshiro said coldly. Karin glowered at him.

"You know… You're a lot different than how I remember you." Karin said distastefully, ignoring Byakuya's sound of impatience. Toshiro sighed, though, and shook his head.

"Sorry, Kurosaki. My grandmother just died, and I guess I'm in a bad mood." Toshiro said. Indeed, the woman who had taken him in when he was a child had just recently died, not because of old age, but because of a Hollow attack on his home district.

Shinigami had destroyed the Hollow quickly, but it had killed several people in the meantime.

"What? Tosh… Captain Hitsugaya! That's horrible. I didn't know people in this place got old and died…" Karin said nervously.

"People don't age as quickly, and people never die of natural causes. For instance, Commander General Shigekuni Yamamoto Genryusai was over 10,000 years old, and had not died yet. He looked like an extraordinarily muscular old man, but he was nearly unbeatable. Unfortunately, he was murdered by a Quincy of the radical group called the Vandenreich named Yhwach.

"Yhwach was the former Captain-Commander's arch-nemesis, for lack of a better word, and had developed ingenious methods of defeating even a man as brilliant and powerful as him. I'd gladly tell you the story at another time. Perhaps if you lose, the bet, you'll give me a few hours of your time, and I can tell you the story of what happened."

The truth was that now that Toshiro was speaking to Karin, he remembered her acutely from the time that he met her in Karakura Town. She was becoming a beautiful young woman, and he was finding that he wanted to spend time with her in the future.

"You askin' me on a date?" Karin asked in a semi-threatening manner. At this, Toshiro actually laughed.

"Sort of. If you don't want to, I don't mind. But I found the story to be an interesting one, and Seireitei is an interesting place if you know where to look…"

"Okay. You're on. But I don't want the reason for the date to be something as cheap as losing a bet. I'll go on a date with you two weekends from now."

"Karin Kurosaki… We must hurry. It is nearing midnight. Classes start early in the Shin'o Academy."

"Fine. I will pick you up, Kurosaki… Is there a time and day you prefer?" Toshiro asked politely, never having had much experience with dating, if any at all.

"Sunday at 0900h. And Toshiro…"

"Yes, Kurosaki?"

"Call me Karin…"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Good morning… Let's see… You're Miss Dokugamine? The new fashion department head? Yukio said you were young, but I didn't think you would literally be a child."

"Hey! I-I mean… Is that unacceptable, _sir_?" Riruka asked, trying to keep her temper in check.

"Not at all. Yukio has excellent business sense. I trust him completely. He has led this business to expand by 200% in the last fiscal year alone. With a clothing line to boot, I look forward to how we will move even further. You are… Dressed rather oddly considering you are reporting for work…"

"I apologize. Is there something you would prefer I wear?" Riruka asked, never losing the glare that seemed permanently in her eyes that sent shivers down Mr. Mitsuhiro. The CEO sighed and nodded.

"Well… Perhaps this is just your first time in the world of work, and if you're as young as you look, then that isn't surprising. But generally, hats with bunny ears and goth Lolita style dresses aren't appropriate for work.

"Surely you saw how the other people here were dressed. Perhaps you should consider dressing more like them."

"Yes, sir." Riruka said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and bowing politely.

"Excellent. You're dismissed. Do you have any ideas yet for clothes you might make?"

"I do. I _always_ have ideas. Whether they're good or not will be for you to decide. Now, pardon me." Riruka said succinctly, bowing once more, and taking her leave of the office. She then went down to her 'office' and began to draw pictures to her own specifications.

She knew that it didn't really matter what size the prototype was, as they would be later mass produced, and set for every size imaginable. She shuddered at the thought that everyone in Japan would eventually see her work.

It was slightly nerve wracking, but also extremely exciting. She would be well recognized all over Japan, if not all over the world for her designs. She turned up the light, and opened the blinds on the windows, looking around the office…

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. The office was so drab and boring. It needed flowers and plants to add some life to it, and some stuffed animals, and dollhouses, and photographs… Actually… She didn't have any photographs… She wouldn't want to remember her family. But some beauty and cuteness in her room wouldn't hurt… Actually… She didn't really have any money yet. She'd have to wait a few weeks for her first paycheck.

She held the piece of paper up to the light, and imagined what it would look like on her. It was certainly a gutsy piece of clothing she was planning. It defied anything that was currently on the market, and yet, it had a certain dark charm to it that definitely suited Riruka's tastes.

She would have to make accessories to go with it, like a hat, a belt, and at least, she could design some boots, even if she couldn't make them herself, though she felt that a pair of knee high Chuck Taylors would go pretty damn well with the dress… But what was she supposed to wear?

She saw what the other women in the building were wearing, and those skirts were hideous. They smacked of something a middle aged woman would wear to try to look smart and pretty at the same time, but would ultimately fail at both. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

" _Welcome to Shin'o Academy, new students. You have made the noble choice to join the ranks of the Shinigami, and set aside your own lives for the sake of humanity. As you progress, and even after you graduate, always remember this commandment;_

 _Do not seek beauty in battle. Do not seek virtue in death. Do not make the mistake of considering only your own life. If you wish to protect that which you must protect…slice the enemy you must defeat from behind. That is all."_

Karin was remembering her first day at the Shin'o Academy as she waited for Toshiro to pick her up. She really hoped he hadn't forgotten. She knew that he was a captain, and was probably pretty busy. But she was sure that a responsible guy like Toshiro would at least alert her ahead of time if he was going to be late, or if he wasn't able to come. Finally, she heard a male voice down the hall, speaking to several female students.

"Pardon me… Could you perhaps tell me where Kurosaki's room is?" Toshiro asked, for the voice was unmistakably his.

"Oh… Do you mean Karin-chan… She's right down the hall… Room 666. Did something happen, Captain Hitsugaya?" The girl asked with a giggle. Toshiro shook his head.

"No. I am merely showing her where everything is in Seireitei."

Secretly, he was thinking that if her sense of direction was as bad as he suspected Ichigo's was, she could walk right off Sokyoku Hill and not even realize she was falling until she hit the ground. Finally, though, he knocked on the door, and spoke.

"Kurosaki? May I enter?" Toshiro asked. Karin gasped, not having expected him to appear so quickly after he finished talking.

"Y-yeah!" Karin shouted, opening the door. She looked at Toshiro, who looked at her, and then looked away.

"Thank you for agreeing to this date with me, Kurosaki. Your brother instructed me to tell you that if I try anything funny with you, that he'll personally cleave me in half at the waist. I tried to tell him that your brother complex was so severe that there was no risk of that happening, but he wouldn't listen."

At this, Karin laughed, and followed Toshiro out of the room, and down the stairs. She could sort of see Ichigo saying that. Despite how he put on airs of not caring, he was actually pretty overprotective of those he cared about. Had Karin known exactly where she was going to go on their date that day, though, perhaps she would have requested a different outing.

"So what's the deal with this Quimby guy?" Karin asked, getting right down to the point. Toshiro laughed lightly at this. There weren't many people who could claim ignorance on the Quincies anymore, and it was kind of cute.

"You mean the Quincies? Well, it's a long story, but since it will take a while to get where we're going, I might as well tell you what I know. The legacy that I know of started about a thousand years ago, when a man named Yhwach, and his clan, whom he named the Quincies, were the human defenders of earth from Hollows, and other malevolent spiritual beings.

"Quincies, while their job is much the same, are fundamentally different from Shinigami. Whereas Shinigami draw most of their spirit energy from their internal Reishi reservoir, or rather, from inside them, Quincies do have a fair amount of Spirit energy which allows them so see spirits, but draw most of their energy from their efficient manner of drawing spirit particles from the outside world.

"Now, you may be wondering how this would work in the Human world. There is spirit energy in the Human world. It just isn't as plentiful, and as such, Quincies must be more judicious with their powers on earth.

"But anyway, Quincies have a number of powers that they use to destroy Hollows. Most of them revolve around forming weapons, primarily bows, out of Reishi, and firing spirit arrows. However, they have other powers that have been developed from centuries, if not millennia of training.

"The main difference though, between Shinigami and Quincies is that while Shinigami put souls and Hollows to rest, or rather, send them to Soul Society, Quincies, once they have destroyed a Hollow, have destroyed the Soul inside it.

"They kill Hollows. They don't put them to rest. If you can imagine the Universe as a scale, do you see the problem with their method?" Toshiro asked. Karin thought for a moment, then nodded.

"If the Quincies continue to destroy, or rather kill, too many Hollows, the scale would tip, and the world would become imbalanced."

"Well… Yes, but that's only the catalyst of the real problem. Take it to its ultimate and worst case conclusion…"

"I don't get it."

"That's okay. What happens when a scale tips all the way? Whatever is on the scale spills. If you think of the Human World, Hueco Mundo, Hell, and Soul Society to be a four way scale, then you could logically see that if the scale were to be tipped, then the four compartments would break, and literally all hell would break loose.

"Hollows, Wholes, Shinigami, humans… We'd all be in a broken down world. Therefore, we talked to the Quincies and told them that they needed to cease their inherently destructive actions. However, being humans, they didn't see it that way.

"They saw only the immediate picture, which was that as humans, they could reach the Hollows much faster than any Shinigami could. They were right in that regard. But we knew that the price of a few human lives was a small price to pay for the integrity of the entire Universe.

"I know, it seems callous, but that's the way it is. We had to serve the greater good, and so, we went to war with the Quincies. They were powerful, and we were powerful, and the war depleted both our forces greatly.

"Eventually, the former Captain-Commander sealed away Yhwach, the undisputed leader of the Quincies, and we defeated the Quincies once and for all. That doesn't mean we killed all of them. It merely means that there weren't enough of them left to be a significant threat to the stability of the Universe…"

"But! Even one ounce could tip a scale in one direction over another… So could one soul tip the balance of the Cosmos!" Karin protested. Toshiro sighed, and shook his head.

"Wrong. If you consider the average Whole to weigh about 0.00001 micrograms, an average Hollow to weigh approximately 0.001 micrograms, the average human to weigh less than a Hollow, and the average Shinigami to weigh about 0.01 micrograms…

"In spiritual weight anyway, given the fact that there are likely quadrillions of spirits littered throughout the Cosmos, one could say that 1 or even one million Hollows would not make a difference. Thus, with the small number of Quincies that we believed had survived the war, we didn't see a threat.

"However, we didn't realize that there were many extraordinarily powerful Quincies, all members of the Vandenreich, hidden throughout the shadows of Soul Society, and in Hueco Mundo, or the Hollows' world, as well. They were waiting for Yhwach's return, and when he did return, he did us the 'favor' of purging the world of Quincies he deemed impure, and using their power to restore his own.

"However, then he led the Quincies in war once again on Soul Society, this time, with weapons that could steal our greatest asset, our Bankai. We managed to defeat them once more, kill Yhwach for good this time, thanks to Kurosaki, and banish the Quincies once and for all.

"But not without loss. But here we are at the Maggots Nest. Make sure you stay close to me, Kurosaki. Weapons aren't allowed in here. You'll notice I haven't got mine. Therefore, one must be able to stop prisoners with their bare hands. After me, I think… For safety."

Toshiro led the way into the Maggots Nest, and down the stairs and into the detention cave.

"Huh? There are so many people here, but none of them are bound…" Karin said, confused. Toshiro sighed, and looked at her.

"Kurosaki, are you sure you're ready to hear the truth? Many seasoned Shinigami would be repulsed at the truth. I only learned fairly recently."

"Of course I'm ready to know the truth! And don't call me 'Kurosaki' damn it! You asked me on a date, act like it!"

"I apologize. I am used to being formal like that. The truth is, these men and women have done nothing to deserve imprisonment, or rather, they have taken no directly hostile actions toward our organization. Rather, the Central 46, the governing body of Soul Society, has deemed them to be a threat based on their beliefs, or suspicious behavior.

"Therefore, they are kept here, where they cannot pose any threat. You see, no Shinigami _ever_ resigns the Gotei Thirteen… _Never_ has it happened, and never will it happen. If a Shinigami cannot for whatever reason do their job, they are given what is known as a leave of absence. If that leave goes on too long, they are marked down as having resigned.

"However, the truth is that they come here. It may not be nice, but the Central 46 in their wisdom have seen it as necessary. Do not worry. They are unlikely to attack you. You should be on your toes, though. Follow me, down this hall."

"Where are we going? It's so cold down here!"

"Yes. We are nearly 500 meters under the Seireitei, under 500 meters of Seki Seki rock. We are protected from the worst of its effects because there is a layer of something that blocks it.

"However, if any prisoner were to attempt to escape, the film would break, and one hundred pounds of Seki Seki rock would fall directly on the prisoner, robbing them rather rapidly of their spirit energy. Even if they were to dodge it, it would remain in close enough vicinity to keep them from getting far. Here we are. Guards… I wish to see Sosuke Aizen."

"Very well, Captain Hitsugaya… Are you sure it's wise to bring an Academy student with you?"

"It is fine. She is Kurosaki's younger sister. She can handle herself."

"Very well. Be fast, though."

"Hello, Aizen… How are you enjoying your… Enforced vacation?" Toshiro asked with a nasty smirk. Karin had to admit that this was nothing like what she pictured Aizen as. He had the devious smirk on his face, but seeing him wrapped up in a skintight gimp suit wasn't quite what she had in mind.

"It is good to see you, Captain Hitsugaya. And who might this lovely young lady be?"  
"Karin Kurosaki…" Karin said nervously.

"Do not be nervous, Miss Kurosaki. I do not bear you any ill will based on the actions of your brother. He was quite an amazing man, willing to give up everything for what he believed in. So, what did you come here for, today?

"As you may know, I do literally have all the time in the world. However, I find these days that I like to amuse myself with long naps and daydreams. So please hurry up."

"Very well. Is what Ichi-nii said about you true? Did you really try to kill eight captains and lieutenants?"

"Ten captains and lieutenants…" Aizen corrected with the merest hint of a smirk that seemed to piss Karin off even more than if he had been cackling madly.

"Right… You tried to kill them but failed, and so, you got all ten officers, and one other who was close to one of the captains framed for high treason, and had them expelled from Soul Society. Is that correct?"

"Yes. As I told Captain Hirako, though, it was his own fault. The betrayal that you can see is trifling. It is the betrayal that you cannot see that is so frightening.

"Let me see… If I recall correctly, I was able to get rid of Captain Hirako Shinji, Captain Aikawa Love, Captain Otoribashi Rose, Captain Muguruma Kensei, Captain Tsukabishi Tessai, Captain Urahara Kisuke, Captain Shihoin Yoruichi, Lieutenant Kuna Mashiro, Lieutenant Sarugaki Hiyori, Lieutenant Yadomaru Lisa, and Lieutenant Ushoda Hachigen, so if I have counted correctly the second time, I removed eleven captains and lieutenants."

"Riiight… Anyway, then you proceeded to take in two captains and lead them in a betrayal of Soul Society before escaping to Hueco Mundo, and building an army of Arrancar in order to start a war on Soul Society…"

"You are very well informed for an Academy student. I am also impressed that Kurosaki knows all this."

"Right… But _why_? Why would you want to betray such a noble organization? What was your point in doing so?"

"You see… Since the beginning, nobody has stood atop the heavens… Not Shinigami, not even God. But that vacancy is an unbearable absence. I planned to defeat Soul Society, and use the souls of Karakura Town to make the King's Key in order to destroy God and take his place…

"That was my goal…"

"Really?" Karin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Is something wrong, Miss Kurosaki?"

"Well… For a man who was apparently so intelligent, I thought that you would at least have a more interesting goal in mind. I mean… Really? World domination? You do realize that that has been every major villain's goal for the past thousand years, right?

"What did King Galbatorix from Eragon want? World domination. What did Voldemort want? World domination. What did every James Bond villain you can mention want? _World domination_! It's so clichéd! How can you even call yourself a decent villain if you can't come up with a more interesting goal than that!?

"I mean, at least Dracula from Bram Stoker's novel was looking for something minimally more interesting! He wanted the love of Mina Harker! Hannibal Lecter committed crimes out of a sense of excitement, and often because he felt the person had been unacceptably disrespectful toward him! That's it! I'm done here, Toshiro! Now I can see why Ichi-nii _really_ hated him! It's because he was so damn _boring_!"

For a moment, Toshiro stood there, his mouth agape. Then, he started laughing. Nobody had ever lectured Aizen like that before. Nobody had ever thought to 'go there'. But now, this formerly human Academy student was standing there, shaking her finger in Aizen's face, chastising him for being boring. It seemed that Aizen was amused as well.

"I can admire your spirit, Karin Kurosaki. I pray that we can meet again. Perhaps you can bring me some of those books. I've never actually heard of Eragon, or James Bond, or Hannibal Lecter. They sound like fascinating books." Aizen said with a smirk. Karin merely sneered at Aizen, though, and stormed out with Toshiro hurrying after her.

"Kurosaki… I-it probably wasn't the best idea to antagonize Sosuke Aizen… Back when he was in the midst of defecting Seireitei, he cut Kurosaki in half at the waist… though he miscalculated, and Kurosaki's spine was left intact."

"H-he beat someone as strong as Ichi-nii? H-how is that possible?"

"I think you have a slightly distorted perception of your older brother. There are many who are stronger than Kurosaki, and because their education is more balanced, they could easily defeat him in battle.

"Besides, Kurosaki had to gain access to a move that would temporarily increase his power astronomically, but then strip him of his Shinigami powers in order to defeat Aizen in the end. That's how powerful Aizen is."

"Yeah… But if he was really so strong, and his character was so unassailable for… What!?"

"I… Didn't realize you knew a word like 'unassailable…"

"Bite me!" Karin snapped angrily. "Can I finish?"

"Of course. My apologies, Kurosaki." Toshiro said, blushing slightly. He was slightly disappointed to see that she wasn't really warming up to him as much as he had hoped. Ever since he met her two years back, he had been somewhat taken with her, and now he was on a date with her, but she seemed colder toward him than usual.

"If his character was so unassailable, why did he have to set up all those captains and lieutenants? Couldn't he have just continued on as a captain and let it go?" Karin asked, infuriated, now.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something, Kurosaki…"

"Call me Karin, damnit! We've been friends for two years, now!"

"I-I can't…" Hitsugaya said, blushing even deeper. "I-it would be inappropriate for me to address you so informally. I'm a captain, and should show the proper detachment from Academy students. I'll probably get in trouble just for taking you on this date."

"O-oh… I-I'm sorry… I didn't know you'd get in trouble for doing this for me."

"No. It was my invitation. I'm glad to take you out, Karin…"

"My… You're so polite… But what am I misunderstanding? He set up eleven captain level Shinigami for his crimes."

"You are misunderstanding his reasons for 'setting them up' as you say. Only Urahara Kisuke, and Tsukabishi Tessai were charged with the crimes of forbidden research… I see your confusion. I spoke to Urahara-san, myself, and even I'm slightly confused. He created something called the Hogyoku, Urahara did, which, when used, could break the barrier between Shinigami and Hollow. In other words, Shinigami who are touched with the Hogyoku are given Hollow powers."

"Urahara-san created the sphere, but became frightened by its powers, and sealed it away. But Aizen became fascinated by the possibilities it presented, and in his greed, he used its power to hollowfy the Shinigami he mentioned, save Tessai, Urahara, and Yoruichi Shihoin.

"Urahara discovered what was happening and sought to stop Aizen. He caught him in the act, and a battle ensued. However, Aizen had been using his Zanpakuto's power for a long while to mask the fact that he had not been in Seireitei for months…"

"The specifics are a story for a different conversation. But since dozens of people saw who they thought was Aizen on the night that the battle went on, Aizen was cleared of suspicion, and Urahara looked guilty. He was sentenced to be stripped of his powers and be banished to the Human world, and the ones who were cursed with hollowfication were to be executed as hollows. However, Yoruichi Shihoin broke them out and brought the group to the Human world."

"Okay… That's that story… What invincible power could Aizen's sword possibly have that could give him such an airtight alibi?"

"He called it Kanzen Saimin, or Absolute Hypnosis. It controlled all five senses, and could make anything appear to be anything else. All it required to work was for someone to see his Shikai once. After that, they were under permanent hypnosis.

"To make the perfect disguise for himself, he did a ceremonial release of his sword in front of all of Seireitei. That meant that everyone in Soul Society saw what he wanted them to see."

"That's obscene! How could all of Soul Society let the wool be pulled over their eyes like that!?"

"Well… Aizen was well liked and well respected. He was friendly and he followed the rules. He was a lieutenant, and that made it harder to accuse him of anything. By the time Kisuke discovered what Aizen had done, Aizen had already put his plan into full swing. Oh, come on, Kuro…"

"Karin! Call me Karin!" Karin shouted, drawing slightly unwelcome attention to them in the middle of Seireitei. I-Ichi-nii!? W-what the hell are _you_ doing here!?" Karin snapped, staring at Ichigo. It was strange to see him in a captain's uniform. He had gotten it only three days before, and she had gotten permission to go to the ceremony. Ichigo looked over at Karin and gave her a rather weak looking smile.

"Hey, Karin, Hey Toshiro…"

"It's Captain Hitsugaya…"

"Hey! Ichi-nii is a captain, too now! He shouldn't have to call you captain. Stop being so vain!" Karin snapped.

"No. It's fine, Captain Hitsugaya… I didn't know you and Karin were going on a date, today."

"Yeah…" Came a voice from behind them, and Lisa walked up with a bland smirk.

"Yes. I had heard through the grapevine that you were in love with…" Lisa began, starting to tease Karin, but having a hand put over her mouth.

"Anyway, sorry, Kurosaki. I didn't mean to bother you on your day off…" Toshiro said with a bow of apology. Ichigo had chosen Ikkaku as his lieutenant, as he knew that Ikkaku was an excellent fighter, having fought him first when he first broke into Soul Society.

Ikkaku had taken some convincing, but after a pep talk from Zaraki, who seemed to think a lot more of Ichigo than Ichigo had expected, Ikkaku consented, and now, the chrome dome was Ichigo's lieutenant. By all rights, Ikkaku could be a captain, given his power, and the fact that he had achieved Bankai, both of which were prerequisites.

However, Ikkaku never wanted to be in the limelight like that, and so, he remained third seat for a long time.

"Lisa, let's go. I agree that it's kind of fun to tease Karin, but we have work to do… Unfortunately, and you're the one who knows what work we have to do."

"Yeah… I know, you still aren't completely caught up with what's required of you as a captain. I did most of the paperwork back when I was Captain Kyoraku's lieutenant. It seems ironic that I would come back to the same division under a different captain.

Besides, what is wrong with continuing with the way you are?"

"No. I need to become more balanced. Would you help me with the paperwork this time as well, Lisa? Commander General Kyoraku says I need to meditate at least one hour a day…"

At this, Lisa let out a low snicker.

"What? What's so damn funny?" Ichigo asked threateningly.

"I simply cannot imagine you sitting still for six minutes, let alone sixty. Perhaps you would rather 'meditate' with one of my erotic magazines? It seems much more like you, Captain Kurosaki."

"Bite me…"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Well, I won't keep you two on your date. Just don't try anything weird with her, Toshiro…"

"It's Captain Hitsugaya, and why would I!? Toshiro asked irritably, walking off with Karin, who waved goodbye to Ichigo, and turned after hesitating a moment.

The next few hours for Karin passed pretty quickly. They went out to lunch at a café that had cheap coffee and even cheaper noodles. They didn't have movies in Soul Society, but they did have theaters, and Shinigami who were good at acting acted in the plays, and they went to such a play.

It was a play that detailed how the former Commander General defeated the Vasto Lorde Menos, Samhain*, for whom the Celtic holiday was named.

The story went that in the Human world, a Vasto Lorde appeared to the Humans as a god, and demanded sacrifices once a year on what would later come to be known as Samhain.

Genryusai, disturbed by this Hollow's unusual behavior of using Human religious customs against them, sought to destroy Samhain, and was seen by the cultists of Samhain, who were all spiritually aware, and thus, were able to see him. The cultists, who were all in awe and terrified by Samhain, were truly awed by the battle that went on.

In the end of his first battle with Samhain, Genryusai was badly injured and dying. But he was brought back to health by Wiccan priestesses, who were capable of healing spiritual bodies by using their own spirit energy. It was during Genryusai's coma that he discovered his Bankai, and after, he went back and challenged Samhain once again and destroyed the wicked Hollow, saving the Celts from his depravity.

Karin was impressed by the Shinigami's acting ability, and their voices, which seemed to resound through the entire theater. The entire play was done in Gaelic, and thus, it was hard for Karin to follow most of it. As the two walked out, Karin stretched and yawned. She was tired, and when she checked her watch, she noticed that it was broken.

"There's no point checking your watch, Kurosaki. Human watches don't work in Soul Society. It's about 1800h, though. We should be getting you back to your dorm room soon. Let's get going, Kurosa…"

"I've told you at least five times, call me Karin!" Karin said, chopping Toshiro on the head. He had to admit that she was stronger than she looked.

As they walked back, they ran into Momo, who smiled and walked over to Toshiro.

"Shiro-chan! It's been a while… Oh my God! You have a girlfriend? She's so beautiful!" Momo gasped. For a moment, Karin was struck speechless. She was amazed that Toshiro was friends with a person like Momo. Their personalities were polar opposites.

"I've told you to call me Captain Hitsugaya. And she's not my girlfriend. This is Captain Kurosaki's younger sister. She's decided to join the Shin'o Academy." Toshiro said in a rather flat voice.

"Oh, no need to deny it! So… _You're_ the girl Shiro-chan helped out in her soccer match?"

"Yeah. That's me." Karin said unenthusiastically, her expression remaining a blunt gaze. "And I most certainly am _not_ Hitsugaya's girlfriend. I only just got here from the Human World, and so, Hitsugaya is just showing me around. He took me to see…" Suddenly, Toshiro slapped his hand over Karin's mouth, and grinned apologetically, excusing the two of them.

"I apologize, Kuro… Rather, Karin-san. Hinamori was very attached to Aizen before he betrayed Soul Society, and I don't think she ever got over his rather brutal betrayal of not only Soul Society, but also her personally."

"Really?" Karin asked. "What happened?"

"Well… It's a long story… Actually, everything that involves Aizen is a long story. But if you don't mind long stories, I don't mind telling you."

"I don't mind. I've probably heard longer stories than that. Humans are notorious for talking too much."

"Right. Well, in the month leading up to his defection from Soul Society, your brother and his friends invaded to Soul Society to save Rukia, who had been sentenced to death for illegal transference of her powers to a Human, and an overstay of time in the Human World.

"All the Shinigami believed that the Council of Forty-Six sentenced her. But in fact, Aizen had murdered the entire Council, and took their place. He sentenced her to death via the Sokyoku, which is usually only used on Captain level Shinigami or other extraordinarily powerful prisoners. The Sokyoku has the power of one million Zanpakuto, and as such, it completely vaporizes the body. This was all part of his plan…"

"Is all this necessary? Just get to the point…" Karin said impatiently, not seeing the point of this meandering story.

"It all is necessary, Karin. Anyway, he needed to vaporize her body so that the item that he actually wanted would fall from her body, and he could collect it.

"The Hogyoku, or Breakdown Sphere, is an item that breaks down the barrier between Shinigami and Hollow, and thus, allows a Shinigami to gain Hollow powers. This was vital for him. But anyway, I am actually getting off point. He continued to move up the date of the execution to keep your brother from saving her in time.

"In addition, he left a letter for Hinamori that said that I was a traitor, and planned to commit terrible crimes. The next day, she found him apparently dead, and pinned to a tower with his own sword, a true insult to a man's honor.

"She went mad with grief, and tried to kill me. Eventually, she went to the Central 46, and found that Aizen was very much alive. He revealed his plan, and revealed that he had only ever been using her because she admired him so much. Then he proceeded to try to kill her."

"He failed, and her emotional wounds were much more severe than her physical ones. As you can see, she recovered physically, but nobody mentions Aizen around her anymore. Aizen's answer to her telling him that she had admired him was 'Admiration is the furthest emotion from Understanding.'"

"Wow…" Karin muttered, stunned into silence. She had seen Aizen as sort of a flop before, albeit a powerful flop. But now, she understood just how manipulative and intelligent he was, and how masterful his betrayal had been.

"Yes… Karin-san… He truly was a monster of the worst kind. He…"

"Come on, Hitsugaya… Lighten up… Just call me Karin. We're on a date. Even if we aren't an item, it's still a social outing…"

"What are you talking about? What is an 'item'? And I was just planning to show you around Seireitei…" Toshiro said irritably, though he was blushing slightly.

"You know? An item?" Karin asked, holding up her pinky and thumb. Seeing this, Toshiro turned bright red.

"N-no! We _aren't_ an _item_!" He sputtered.

"Oh, don't get so worked up over it. I told your girlfriend that I wasn't your girlfriend. I have no interest in getting you in trouble."

"Hinamori is _not_ my girlfriend!" Toshiro shouted furiously as the two walked into the dorm building, drawing the attention of every student in the room. This was the girl's dorm, so the girls started giggling furiously. Toshiro blushed, and seemed to be trying to appear smaller.

It wasn't working. It was at this point that Karin's roommate approached them, and smiled.

"Hello, Captain Hitsugaya. Hey, Karin-chan… How did your date with the captain go? Did he treat you right? He didn't try anything funny with you, did he?" She asked, laughing at this last suggestion.

"No. He was very proper." Karin said with a polite smile. "And it wasn't really a date. Anyway, see ya'… Hitsugaya, you don't have to walk me up to my room…" Karin said.

Toshiro blushed, and muttered something before bowing politely and leaving. The other girls in the lobby stared for a moment, then went back to whatever they were doing.

"That was weird. It almost seemed like he likes you or something, Karin-chan…" Arisa said with a grin.

"Don't be ridiculous. Hitsugaya couldn't possibly like me."

"Why not? Yer cute… I think even I might be falling for you a bit. Y'all've got a spicy personality, good fashion sense, yer athletic, smart…" 

"Yeah, yeah… I get it. I feel beautiful, already. But he's a captain already, and the youngest captain in Soul Society. Besides… Ichi-nii is the only man for me." Karin said, blushing lightly as she walked into the dorm room with Arisa.

"So?"

"What do you mean?" Karin asked, confused by Arisa's rather blunt and vague question.

"Well… In my experience, when ya' wanna to get a man, ya gotta make him think that ya' could get a different one wit' no problem. Go on a few dates with Captain Hitsugaya, make this Ichini jealous and then you'll…" Arisa began, mistaking Ichigo's name for being Ichinii.

"That's completely immoral!" Karin protested. Karin knew that she would do a lot of things to get Ichigo's love. But making him jealous by using another boy was _not_ one of them. "Besides… My brother isn't that shallow, and he would be furious with me if he found out that I did something so shallow." Karin said.

"Ohhhh! Ya' meant Nii, like Nii-san… I didn' realize ya' were on such casual terms with your brother… Ya must already be pretty close…"

"Yeah… We're pretty close. Our whole family was pretty close in the Human World. It's kind of a long story, but I don't mind if you want to hear it."

"Sure. Why not? I ain't got nothin' better t'do. I spent th' day on my homework. So I've got th' evenin' free." She said in her Osakan dialect that she was apparently known for in the Academy. She was a brilliant student.

She had been there two years, and she already knew more than most of the fourth year students. Karin was determined to be as good as her roommate. Arisa Kinoshita was already far ahead, and was only likely to get further ahead, as she had a jumpstart on Karin.

"Well… This is only the story that I got. My old man, Isshin Shiba was in the Human World on a mission to destroy a Hollow that had killed a number of his comrades. That was when he found that the Hollow was like none he had ever fought before.

"Apparently, that was also when Aizen displayed his true colors, to Dad, anyway, and he cut him from behind. Isshin continued to fight, but fell. That was when Mom came in and began fighting…"

"Your mom was also a Shinigami? How wer' ya'…?"

"Shut up and listen." Karin said bluntly. "Mom wasn't a Shinigami. She never was, and never would be. She was a pureblooded Quincy. She defeated the Hollow, but was injured. Isshin couldn't stay in the Human World, though, and returned to Seireitei to report to the Commander-General.

"After a while, he went back to the Human World and found that Masaki's injury had left lingering damage. The Hollow had Hollowfied Masaki. The problem with Hollowfying a Quincy is that Hollow powers are like acid to a Quincy's soul.

"They are dangerous, and thus, she was going to die if nothing was done, and the Quincies didn't know what to do. So then Urahara offered a solution. It would require Dad to sacrifice his Shinigami powers, though.

"He loved Masaki, though, so he agreed, and she was saved, and they got married and had children and so on and so forth. So Ichi-nii has a lot of races inside him. He's apparently something called a Visored, which is a Shinigami infused with Hollow powers.

"He's a Shinigami, and he's a Quincy. I don't completely get it. He explained his Zanpakuto to me, and how they tie into his powers. But they make little sense to me." Karin said. Arisa laughed, and shook her head.

"Well… Captain Kurosaki is special, if nothin' else. So, have ya told 'im yer feelings for him? I know he's your brother, but surely if you told him how ya felt, he'd…"

"I've told him. He's completely in love with Rukia, though… They've really got something special together. I have no right to interfere…"

"Wait… Ya mean Lieutenant Kuchiki? He's datin' Lieutenant Kuchiki? No shit?"

"Well… Ichi-nii knew Rukia before she became a lieutenant. He met her… Was it three years ago? No. Two. Two years ago, when a Hollow attacked our house. She transferred her Shinigami powers to him, and thus, he became a Shinigami, himself, and began protecting Mankind from Hollows. Their bond grew over the years, and turned into romance."

"I see… Ya seem to be stuck on somethin' wit' yer homework. What is it?"

"No. I'm just distracted. I really do need to get back to working." Karin said, turning around at her desk, and writing quickly. She knew all the answers, which was good, because they would be on the test.

Already her teachers were saying that she was vastly exceeding their expectations of her. None of them thought she would have such facility with not only hand-to-hand, which Ichigo had taught her over the years, but also Hoho, Zanjutsu, and Kido.

In the three weeks that she had been in the Academy, she had surpassed all the other students. She was happy with that. It meant that she was getting closer to Ichigo in terms of talent. Her eventual goal was to become a captain like Ichigo was.

She had always admired Ichigo for putting his life at risk to protect others. She hadn't practiced Kido that day, either, so she needed to go down to the training grounds, and practice all her skills. It was Sunday, and getting late, but she couldn't afford to miss even a day of practice.

"I have to get down to the training grounds. I forgot to go earlier."

"What? It's Sunday, Karin-chan! Besides… It's 2000h! It ain't no kinda time to be trainin'!" Arisa said ardently. Even she hadn't practiced that day. She never practiced on Sunday. Her entire class saw her as a prodigy, anyway, and she had skipped two years to join the fourth years. Thus, it wasn't such a big deal if she took one day a week off. Besides, she used Sunday to work on other things.

She played piano and violin on Sundays in a small café in Seireitei, where she was something of a local celebrity. She didn't remember anything about her Human life. But she had a feeling that she must have been talented in music, as she was extremely gifted once she got to Soul Society. So much so that she entertained the masses when she was still just a soul in Rukongai.

"Well… Unlike you, Kinoshita-san, I'm not a natural genius…"

"Bollocks!" Arisa snapped. "You're just as smart as I am. If ya' give it a year or so, y'all'l likely be even further'n I am!"

"Bullshit. I need to train every day. Yeah, I'm tired, but I can't even miss one day if I ever want to get as good as Ichi-nii…"  
"Well, there's yer problem, sweetie…"

"Don't call me sweetie." Karin said in a disgruntled tone.

"Y'all're settin' th' bar too high. Aim to graduate first in yer class, or aim to graduate in three years instead of six, or whatever. Then, when y'achieve that goal, make a new one, like… Become a seated officer… I dunno… I ain't in any position to make goals fer y'all. I only want y'all to promise me one thing…"

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Karin asked with an appreciative smile.

"Don't forget 'bout me on yer' way up…" Arisa said, kissing Karin on the lips, causing her to recoil rapidly, punching Arisa in the face, breaking her nose. Arisa groaned, standing up, and looking at her face in the mirror.

"Wow… Karin-chan… Ya' really pack a hell of a punch… I can appreciate that in a woman…" Arisa said with a giggle. Karin, though, was still incensed that Arisa had done something so inappropriate. She had always planned to give her first kiss to Ichigo.

She had kissed him before he left for Soul Society, but she didn't really count that, as he hadn't consented. And she _definitely_ didn't want her first kiss to be with a girl.

"Try that again, and I'll give you much more than a broken nose!" Karin snapped furiously. Arisa giggled, and reset her nose, and muttered a minor healing spell, fixing her nose perfectly.

"See? That's what I find so incredibly attractive about y'all. Yer so spicy and rebellious, and yet, you're gorgeous at the same time. I bet your mother was a beautiful woman."

"Actually, I look more like my father. Yuzu-chan looks more like our mother." Karin said coldly. "Listen, I have no problem with gay people, but I do have a problem with people; boy or girl, gay or straight, violating my personal space. So I won't mention this again if you promise not to try that again…"

"Okay. Sorry… Can I still call ya' 'Karin-chan'?" She asked? Karin smiled in resignation and nodded.

"Yeah. I guess so. But I'm serious. No kisses. I don't swing that way."

"I understand. But yer wrong. I ain't a lesbian…"

"Y-you're not? But…"

"I'm bisexual… I swing both ways."

"Wow. I never would've guessed. And that went down alright in Rukongai?"

"Eh… I came from one of the poorer districts. People didn't have time to worry about my sexuality. But may I ask a favor?"

"Um… Sure?" Karin asked uncertainly. She didn't know what Arisa wanted, but she wasn't sure at all if she could possibly agree.

"I'm supposed t' graduate this year. I'm getting' accepted right into th' Thirteen Court Guard Companies. They've said they're gonna put me in Thirteenth Division, under Captain Ukitake…"

"Yeah? Wow. Congratulations. That's really impressive. So what's this favor?"

"I want a kiss on graduation day… Don't give me such a look. I ain't sayin' you hafta do it in front of anyone. I ain't sain' you have to use yer tongue. I just want a promise that you won' forget me after we part ways…"

"Okay… Seriously? _Right_ after I tell you not to try and kiss me again, you ask me to kiss you again? What the hell?"

"Never mind. Just the promise will be fine, th…"

"No. I'll do it. Just don't expect me to go all the way with you, or anything."

"Well… I ain't gonna expect anything of ya', but I can certainly hope that you'll give me more'n just a kiss…"  
"Yeah, yeah… We'll see… Now, it's 2100h, and I have to get to bed. I'm exhausted from walking all day."

"Really? Where'd y'all go?"

"Well, we went to a prison called the Maggot's Nest on the outskirts of Seireitei. We visited some nutjob named Sosuke Aizen, and…"

"Wait! You saw _the_ Sosuke Aizen!? No fucking way! He's like th' most dangerous criminal in Soul Society history. Even the old Commander General couldn't defeat him. Even the Vandenreich wanted his help."

"He was a boring guy. He was intelligent and devious, but his goals were boring as hell. He wanted world domination. I mean, really? He said something about wanting to be God, but that didn't make any sense to me, since I don't believe in God."

"There really is a God, y'know? Karin-chan… God really does exist. He ain't exactly like what th' Human Bible says he's like. He had nothin' to do with the creation of Humans, and there weren't no Adam and Eve. But God does exist. From what I understand, he's like a spiritual balancer.

He's the one that holds the fabric of all existence together. Whether ya' call ím God, Allah, Krishna, or Amaterasu, it all means the same thing. He reigns over reality, and had Aizen succeeded in killin' God, existence would have fallen apart. Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, and Earth would've collided, and chaos would've reigned."

"What the hell is Hueco Mundo?"

"It's th' world Hollows reside in when they ain't in the Human world. But I'll say g'night t' y'all, now. See ya in th' mornin."

Ichigo was sitting in the middle of the room, a fair amount of incense burning around the room, the lights dimmed so that they barely offered any illumination, and several candles around the room, several of which were scented. The room was filled with conflicting smells that were supposed to work together to create a sense of ease and relaxation in the smeller so that he or she could meditate properly.

Ichigo had been practicing meditation for weeks, solidifying his reiatsu around him so that he could learn to control it better, and so that his Zanpakuto would not be constantly released. He knew that he may never be able to have only one sword on him, but he would like to have a distinct Shikai form that was separate from his unreleased form.

He had never concentrated on reiatsu control, as it had never been an issue. But now that he needed to learn to control his Quincy powers at all, and control his Shinigami and Hollow powers properly so that he could stand tall and proud as a captain, and be respected by his peers, meaning the other captains.

He knew that they all respected him, but he couldn't respect himself if he couldn't do what even the lowliest of Shinigami could do.

"Good evening, Ichigo…" Rukia said, sounding a little too enthusiastic for her own taste. After hearing how excited she sounded, she covered her mouth, blushing in embarrassment. She had smelled the incense coming into the building.

They were all scents that she had smelled before, given that Byakuya meditated regularly, and used incense as well, though he didn't need it anymore. Byakuya often taught lower Shinigami proper meditation techniques, and in fact, had taught Ichigo a bit about it, although to be fair, her Nii-sama wasn't a very patient teacher, and had become agitated by Ichigo's slowness at learning.

As soon as the words came out, she started, having realized that Ichigo had been meditating. She blushed, and turned to leave, seeing that she had already disturbed him. She was stopped by a hand thrusting out and Ichigo's voice.

"Where are you going?"

"I-I'm sorry, Cap…"

"You call me Captain Kurosaki again and I'll have to give serious consideration to being offended. I'm not your damn captain. I'm your boyfriend. Besides, I was just about to finish my meditation. Half the incense is burned out, and the other half is on its last few puffs of smoke. So, what's up?"

Rukia blushed at being asked this, and looked away. Ichigo found that he was turning pink as well. Rukia had always been such a composed woman that he didn't know that she could even become flustered. Sure, she got angry. Everyone did sometimes. But she never showed embarrassment, or nervousness.

"W-well… It's just… We haven't seen much of each other since you got to Soul Society. Karin came to you, and I saw you briefly, then. By the way, I saw Karin on her date with Captain Hitsugaya. She seemed to be having fun… But are you sure you want her visiting Sosuke Aizen?" Rukia asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't care what she does. She's a… Wait… What?" Ichigo asked, the true implications sinking in about halfway through his answer. He was going to say that she was a big girl, and could do what she liked.

"Yeah. I saw her and Captain Hitsugaya leaving the forest that led to the Maggot's Nest, which is where they house Soul Society's most dangerous elements. Most of them aren't criminals in that they've not committed any crime. However, they are seen as potentially dangerous, and thus, are not allowed to leave.

"The lower levels are reserved for Shinigami, and those who have committed heinous crimes. Aizen's cell is an isolation unit about a kilometer underground underneath about three meters of Sekiseki rock, and separated from the rest of the Maggot's nest by dozens of doors, all with the most powerful of seals on them to prevent the use of reiatsu or Kido on them.

"Aizen's isolation cell is underneath First Division's barracks. I asked what they were doing in the Maggot's Nest, and Karin said that they had seen Aizen."

"They did WHAT!? Is Toshiro cocky, crazy, or just stupid!?" Ichigo yelled

"I don't think it's really _that_ big a deal. Karin is a strong willed girl. From what she said, she found Aizen to be pretty boring."

"Boring? What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… She found his goal to take over the world to be extraordinarily trite and old." Rukia replied. She personally agreed with Karin on that point.

How many people in history, whether Human or Shinigami had stated their goal was to stand at the top? Whether that meant to rule the world like many before Aizen, or to be God, like Aizen wanted, it was all more or less the same.

"I see. So, what did you come for? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you. If you hadn't come, I would've just had to go back to doing paperwork."

"I see… I guess it's good that I came, then. God forbid you having to do paperwork…"

Ichigo scowled at this, and looked away. "I've gotten good at doing paperwork. It's just boring…" Ichigo said.

"Didn't you say the same thing about meditating?" Rukia asked with a smirk, standing up taller, and kissing Ichigo on the lips. Ichigo blushed, and looked away from Rukia again. He was still trying to get his arms around the fact that Rukia really did return his feelings for her.

It still left him slightly dizzy when he thought about being with Rukia. She was so beautiful, and he was just… So ordinary. He sort of still wondered why he had bothered to confess to her.

"Ichigo, you look kind of strange. What's wrong? And don't tell me 'nothing'. I know you better than that."

"I'm just still kind of wondering why you agreed to go out with me."

"Geez… You're such a paranoid person. Why do I need an ulterior motive to do anything? I love you. That's why. I thought that much had been made clear."

"Yes. You did. But… Never mind. I'm glad to see you. Let's see… I should make tea since I have a guest." Rukia heard Ichigo muttering that he hated old fashioned dictates like that. She knew as well as he did that it was polite to make tea, though, so she didn't stop him.

Seireitei was different from the Human World. Custom was still very important. Ichigo stood at the sink and poured some water into a tea pot and started boiling it on high. After a few minutes, he heard it whistling, and so, he took it off, and took a tray out from his cupboard, or rather, Shunsui's former cupboard.

Shunsui had just taken over the stuff in the 1st Division barracks, so he didn't need most of the old stuff. Ichigo got some crackers and cheese from the fridge and put it on the tray with the tea, and walked out to the room that Rukia was in, and poured the tea in front of Rukia and handed her her cup. Rukia bowed and sat down on the pillow, and began sipping her tea.

She had to admit that for someone who hated old fashioned traditions, Ichigo wasn't bad at making tea. His wasn't nearly as good as Byakuya's, who seemed to have a real knack for it, and both of them paled in comparison to her own captain, who had an article in Shinigami Weekly about tea ceremonies.

"Thank you, Ichigo." Rukia said, continuing to drink the tea out of the small cup. After a while, they stopped drinking, and sat down on the couch in the room together, and held hands for a while. Rukia could freely admit that she had never even kissed a man before Ichigo.

Everyone in Soul Society had always assumed that she had been in a relationship with Renji. But she had only ever seen him as a friend, though she knew that Renji loved her.

He had confessed to her on several occasions, and she had turned him down every time. She had heard Renji ranting to himself when he thought nobody could hear him about Ichigo winning her heart after only a year when he had been friends with her for over a century and was still 'only a friend'.

She never bothered to correct him on his inherently erroneous belief that just because they had known each other longer, that she should love him. It was kind of funny, though.

"Tell me… How is Renji taking this? He was pretty bent outta shape when he first found out."

"H-how did you know!? I didn't tell anyone about his ranting…"

"He was ranting _at me_! You heard him but didn't see him, didn't you? I was the one he was talking to… If you can call that talking." Ichigo said, glancing away irritably.

Hearing this, Rukia began giggling, and eventually broke into a laugh. Ichigo had always loved the way Rukia laughed. It was such a beautiful sound, like pure silver bells.

"I guess that would be pretty annoying. How is your sister doing at Shin'o Academy?" Rukia asked, taking a deep breath to still herself. She knew it was unladylike to laugh so openly in front of another person, especially a man. Such rules of decorum were drastically relaxed in the Human World, but in Soul Society, there were still rules that noblewomen were expected to follow.

"There's no need to cloister yourself like that, Rukia-chan. I like your laugh. It's beautiful…" Ichigo said, sounding uncommonly romantic. In fact, him being so romantic was almost unheard of. Rukia would have been suspicious if she didn't know that Ichigo habitually wore his heart on his sleeve.

"And I don't know anything about how Karin is doing. She hasn't spoken to me in any significant capacity since she joined the Academy almost a month ago. She has a roommate with whom she gets along well. The girl is a genius according to Karin. Classes are going well, and she's near the top of her year. She hasn't said much more than that…"

"That's no good. You should take more of an interest in Karin's education. After all, if her goal is to become a Shinigami like you, you really ought to help teach her a little bit."

"She doesn't need my help. She always took after her mother in terms of intelligence.

"Karin is ten times as smart as I'll ever be." Ichigo said. It was a sobering fact that Karin was so much smarter than he was, but he was proud of her, nonetheless.

"That doesn't mean she couldn't still learn something from you. Come here… You're still her brother, and you're older than she is. Thus, you have more experience.

"You've been a Shinigami only three years, and already, you've defeated a monster that even the former Commander General couldn't subdue, beaten Yhwach, who killed the former Commander General, gained control of Quincy powers that you barely knew you had, gained mastery over your Hollow mask, perfected your Zanpakuto, begun to get good at meditation, become a captain…"

"Alright, I get it. I've come a long way. But my Kido is still abysmal, and my reiatsu control is also terrible. My Hoho could use work, and my Hakuda is decent, but it needs work."

"Well… If you want help with Hoho and Hakuda, you could ask Soifon. She's one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in Seireitei, not counting maybe the Commander General."

"Are you kidding? I'm pretty sure Soi Fon hates me with a passion. Besides…" Ichigo said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "She terrifies me… For such a small woman, she's really scary…"

Rukia laughed lightly at this. "I know she seems a bit intimidating. After all, she is a member of the Stealth Force. Basically, she's an assassin. She's supposed to be scary. But I don't think she hates you. Or at least she respects you enough not to want to kill you…" Rukia said offhandedly as though there wasn't a significant difference. Ichigo, for his part, could see a huge difference.

"I-It can't hurt to try…" Ichigo said. Rukia kissed Ichigo again, and smiled. "That's a good attitude. Come on. We've been dating for over a month, now, and we've barely spent any time together. I know we're both busy… But…" Rukia said, leaning in, and cupping Ichigo's cheek, kissing him.

Ichigo responded to her kiss by embracing her, and pulling her in tight. For a few minutes, they continued like that until Ichigo heard someone clear their throat at the entrance. For a moment, Ichigo was too terrified to look to see who it was, sure that it was Byakuya, ready to slaughter Ichigo at a moment's notice.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Captain Kurosaki. I was just sure that _I_ was enough for you." Lisa said in a monotone. Fortunately, Rukia had learned enough about Lisa in the week or two that she had been there to know that she was joking.

What bothered Ichigo more was that Karin was standing there, her mouth hanging open. The girl blinked, and sighed. Karin frankly wasn't surprised. She knew that her Ichi-nii would have to have sex with Rukia eventually. She felt guilty and embarrassed that they had interrupted the two of them.

"S-sorry… I-Ichi-nii… I didn't realize you were busy… I-I can come back anytime."

"No, no… Come back in here. Rukia-chan… I guess…"

"Say no more. She's family. Lisa, did you just come to bring Karin here?"

"Yes. She was wandering around Soul Society like a lost puppy looking for her house, except that a puppy could find her way better."

"Well, let's go then. I'm sure Karin's been itching to see her brother for weeks, now."

"Captain Kurosaki? Don't hesitate to borrow some of my erotic magazines if you need some ideas for how to get started…" Lisa said, wearing her unflinching deadpan face. Ichigo scowled and looked away. He hadn't really wanted Karin to hear any of that. But Lisa seemed to be completely shameless.

"Well, good night, Captain Kurosaki." Lisa said quietly, walking out with Rukia.

"H-hey, Ichi-nii…" Karin said nervously. "I-I'm sorry I ruined your night with Rukia… I just wa…"

"Don't apologize. I'll see her again. We do live pretty close together, after all. And I was wondering when I'd get to see you. So what's going on? How're classes going? Do you like your teachers? How's your roommate? Are you still doing as well as you were when you last checked in?"

"Whoa… Let's see… To answer that in the right order… Classes are going well. I like all my teachers better than my Human teachers at any rate. My roommate is doing great, though the details will come in a different sentence, and I'm still doing as well as last time."

"Good. I always knew you were smarter than I ever was. I could never get my hands around Reiatsu control. My focus was always on Zanjutsu. So what's this about your roommate?"

"Well… I found out recently she's bisexual… But she's also brilliant. She's gonna be graduating at the end of this year, so I guess I'll be getting a new roommate…"

"Wait… What was that?"

"Oh, you mean about her being bi? It's not a big deal. I told her, I have no problem with bisexuals."

"Yeah… But how did you find out? She didn't just say 'guess what, Karin, I'm bi, did she?"

"No… Well… It's a little embarrassing. She just suddenly kissed me last night. I punched her in the face and broke her nose, and told her that if she did that again, I'd break more than just her nose."

"So she's a lesbian…"

"No. She likes boys and girls both. But it's not a problem. She promised she wouldn't do that again. Besides, she's nice, and it's good to have a roommate that can help me out a bit with my work. Since she'll be graduating soon, she's already covered everything I have and more."

"Whatever. So, did you just come to say hi?" Ichigo asked, glad to see Karin. Karin suddenly moved at a rate that Ichigo had not expected of her, and hugged Ichigo tightly.

"It's good to see you, Ichi-nii…

I wanted to know if you could work on Zanjutsu and Hakuda with me after school… Only if you aren't too busy, of course…"

"You want me to teach you Zanjutsu and Hakuda? Well, there's not a problem with that, but Captain Soi Fon is better at Hakuda than I am, and the Commander General is better at Zanjutsu…"

"Yeah, but Captain Soi Fon is scary, and the Commander General is a creepy lecher…" Karin said. At this, even Ichigo had to laugh.

"I agree completely on both those points. But Soi Fon learned at the hands of Yoruichi. Trust me. She's the best."

"Are you crazy? You're even better than Tatsuki, and she's the second best in Japan, even with a broken arm."

"So? Best in Japan. Best in the world. None of that means shit in Soul Society, where even Chuck Norris couldn't touch even the weakest of these people. I'll be your teacher if you really want me to… Actually… There's another woman in Soul Society who's no doubt better than I am. What time is it?"

"2100h. Why?" Karin asked. Ichigo looked at her.

"Come to me after you're done at the Academy tomorrow evening. I'll introduce you to her. Try to be patient with her. She's great at hand-to-hand combat, but she's got a short attention span, and hasn't got a serious bone in her body."

"Then… Why the hell would you put me with her!? How could I possibly learn anything from her!?"

"You'll learn something. Her captain is the polar opposite of her. He seems to be one of the few people who can keep her in line… Well…" Ichigo said, looking away with a slightly doubtful look. "Sort of… Almost…"

Karin sighed, but nodded. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to get along well with this person. She had met a lot of strange people whom Ichigo considered friends. Orihime, who was a master at making the strangest dishes.

Tatsuki, who was the very picture of a tomboy. That Riruka chick, who had a crush on Ichigo but was so tsundere that she could barely admit it to herself, and couldn't even look Ichigo in the face when she admitted it to him.

There was Chad, who was a hulk of a man, bigger than most wrestlers, and stronger than most bodybuilders, but almost always completely silent. There was that… Damn… What was that red haired girl's name? Shizuku? No… That was the girl from that Hayao Miyazaki move… Whatever… The super lesbian… Well… She was more Orihime's friend.

"Ichi-nii… Do you have even _one_ normal friend?" Karin asked with a helpless smirk. She wasn't so much making fun of Ichigo as she was starting to despair that she would be as big a magnet to weirdoes as he was.

"Do you consider Rukia normal?" Ichigo asked.

"She's a Shinigami. I meant human friends, though… Considering all your Shinigami friends seem to be nutjobs as well… Dunno if it matters."

"Let's see… Chad, Inoue, Tatsuki… No… Mizuiro, Keigo… Hell no! Dokugamine-san, no… Hat n' Clogs, Ms. Yoruichi, Uryu… No. Nope. I ain't got a single normal human friend… Damn. I guess that's kinda depressing… If I consider my family to be my friends, then maybe you and Yuzu are normal friends…"

"So. You have three normal friends, if you include Yuzu-chan and I? That's pathetic Ichi-nii. But… It is getting pretty late. G'night Ichi-nii…"

"Alright… Lisa… Rukia-chan, you guys can come back in." Ichigo said. He had known that they were there the whole time. He just didn't feel like calling them out.

"Y'know, Lisa… That's a pretty bad habit you have there, eavesdropping."

"I'm a curious girl. It's perfectly natural to want to know more about my captain."

"Yeah, yeah. Rukia-chan… I know I can't give you orders, but could you take Karin back to Shin'o Academy. Lisa, just go home…"

"Why didn't you ask _me_ to take your sister back to the…"

"Because you would've probably discussed your perverted magazines with her the whole way. She's too young for that shit! She's only thirteen."

"You give me too little credit. Y'know, I was pretty close with Nanao Ise 100 years ago, when I was still Kyoraku's lieutenant."

"You mean the Commander General's lieutenant? What could she possibly want from you? She's so… Proper and intellectual… And you're so…"

"I get it, I get it. She liked to have me read to her once a month. No, it wasn't dirty magazines. She was fond of Sherlock Holmes and Howard Phillips Lovecraft."

"Who and what?" Ichigo asked.

"I'll… Just take Karin-chan back. I'll see you tomorrow, Ichigo." Rukia said, walking over and kissing Ichigo once more. She was being strangely romantic that night. Ichigo was almost suspicious, but he knew that Rukia only acted when she wanted to get away with something.

She was an accomplished actor, in fact, and often played a part in the Seireitei Theater Company's plays. Plays that had her in them were well liked, and drew people from all thirteen divisions… Even the eleventh.

"Pardon my rudeness, Captain Kurosaki, but how stupid are you? Sherlock Holmes? By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? HP Lovecraft? He wrote The Call of Cthulhu, The Music of Erich Zann, The Rats in the Walls, The Arkham Horror, Nyarlathotep, Celephais…

"You've never heard of _any_ of these… Have you?" Lisa asked in irritation.

"I've heard of The Call of Cthulhu. I didn't know who wrote it, though. I think I remember something about Rukia-chan liking Lovecraft, and I've sort of heard of Holmes."

"Forget it… Take this book… I usually use it for beating Shinji over the head when he comes onto me. But you can probably learn more from it than he ever could. Gute Nacht, Captain…" Lisa said, surprising Ichigo with her sudden transition to another language.

"S-sorry?"

"I said good night, Captain. Good luck with your sister and your lover."

A/N: Samhain, pronounced Shau win is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrating the end of the harvest season and the beginning of Winter. Samhain begins at sundown on October 31st and ends at sunrise on November 1st. It is celebrated with a feast and large bonfires, dressing in costume and going door to door (it is the precursor of Halloween), and divination by the Celtic druids.

More about Samhain can be found at wiki/Samhain

Oh, P.S. Sorry the chapter is so long.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Ichi-nii! Ichi-nii!" Karin yelled, snapping Ichigo violently out of his meditation. That was the second time in as many days. He was never going to gain control over himself and his Reiatsu, which Byakuya had instructed him to see as an irrevocable extension of himself.

To control his Reiatsu, he had to control himself. Exercises such as meditation, and various forms of physical exercise and stretching would help one to learn to control one's body to a fine point. Ichigo had said that he had learned that all it took was to imagine a black ball in front of him. The darker and more solid the ball was, the stronger and more controlled one's Reiatsu would be.

Byakuya actually hit him for this. He said that if Reiatsu control was that easy, then the lowliest of peasants could control it and learn Kido along with the best of Shinigami, and the power they had would become meaningless.

Ichigo sighed, and stood up, and slouched over to the door to see Rukia and Karin standing there.

"Hi, Ichigo… Sorry to bother you. You didn't hear us at the front door, so you were no doubt meditating again."

"Don't worry. I promised Karin I would take her to see a teacher. I'll do that. I spoke to Lieutenant Kuna earlier today. She doesn't have a problem teaching you Hakuda. She said she'd be in the 9th Division Barracks around this time.

Though, that may not actually be the case." Ichigo said, leading Karin out.

"Thank you for bringing her here Rukia. You can stay if you haven't got anything else to do. I won't be gone long."

Rukia thought for a moment, and didn't respond to Ichigo's invitation. It was a pretty straightforward invitation, basically asking her to stay. She knew that she had every right to say she was busy, and she was sure that if she returned to Ukitake, he could find work for her to do. But he had said specifically that once she brought Karin to Ichigo, that she could stay if she wanted.

She smiled shyly. Her captain was always so understanding, and rarely demanded anything of his subordinates. He was kind enough to let her spend her evening with Ichigo. The only problem was that she didn't know what they should do. Should they just stay in his home and talk? Maybe it would end up evolving into more…

No. That was not allowed. Her Nii-sama would surely come after Ichigo's life if Ichigo actually had sex with her. It would be an ugly sight, as Ichigo was easily as powerful if not more so than Byakuya, and had control of his Hollow mask and even some Quincy powers. She had even heard from Ikkaku that Ichigo had performed rudimentary Kido in front of them in a practice fight with Kenpachi.

He had used Bakudo #1 to freeze Kenpachi in place for but a moment. She was amazed that such a low Bakudo even worked on a man as powerful as Kenpachi. It went to show that Ichigo had more control than he gave himself credit for.

"Hey… Um…"

"Captain Kurosaki!" The guards at the Ninth Division said, snapping into a standing position and standing at attention. Ichigo had to say that he still felt slightly uncomfortable with the way he was being treated now that he was a captain.

"Look… I've told you, you don't have to be so formal…" Ichigo said, turning pink. Karin couldn't help but laugh at this.

"Hey. She's cute. This your girlfriend?"

"No, stupid! Lieutenant Kuchiki is Captain Kurosaki's girlfriend! They met in the Human World."

"I heard that rumor! It's gotta be bullshit. I know Captain Kurosaki is an extraordinary Shinigami, even by captain standards, but Lieutenant Kuchiki is a noble… They don't date just anybody…"

"Yeah, maybe… But this girl can't be any older than 80 at the very oldest, and she's an Academy student to boot."

"Um… Guys? I'm still standing right here…" Ichigo said, disgruntled that they were arguing about him right in front of him."

"O-oh! Our apologies, Capiain Kurosaki! Sh-she's not your girlfriend, right? She looks so…"

"I'm his sister, dimwits! Can't you see the family resemblance?" Karin snapped furiously, blushing quite as red as Ichigo had been just a moment ago.

"And I'll have you know, I'm thirteen! NOT EIGHTY!"

"What's going on out here… Oh, Captain…" Kensei began. Ichigo interrupted him, though.

"Just call me Ichigo. You knew me way before I became a captain. We're here to see Lieutenant Kuna."

"Mashiro? She left about five minutes ago. She wouldn't give me a definite answer of where…"

"Oh, Kenseeiiiiiii!" Mashiro called, sounding as loud and obnoxious as ever. Kensei gritted his teeth. It was obvious how irritated he was by her… "Oh! Berry-tan! It's you! I knew Rinchin was coming. Didn't know a great and powerful captain would need my help."

"You call me Rinchin again, we're gonna have a problem. I don't need another dyke hitting on me…" Karin griped, causing Ichigo and Kensei to snicker.

"What!? Mashiro isn't gay! Rinchin has a dirty mind! Ahahahaha… !

Anyway, let's get started. We're gonna start with some stretching. Let's do it in the fitness room." Mashiro said, seeming more focused than usual. As the two girls walked away, Kensei leaned over, and smirked.

"So… Are you really dating Kuchiki?"

"Yeah… Hard to believe, right? I couldn't really believe it at first either." Ichigo said with a slightly embarrassed smile. It was unlike him to be embarrassed about anything, especially when he was dating such a beautiful woman as Rukia. This led the members of the division to look at each other.

"Well… You have good taste in women… I'll give you that much. And look what I'm stuck with…" Kensei said, pointing at Mashiro, who was skipping to the training room with Karin.

"I never knew you were dating Lieutenant Kuna…"

At this, the other members of the Sixth Division snickered under their breath, and Kensei felt a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"We are NOT dating!"

"Yeah… But they argue like a married couple…" One of the members said, and the other laughed. At this, Kensei hit him over the head.

"Whatever. I haven't really got time for this. Just tell Lieutenant Kuna not to go overboard with Karin."

"Um, Ichigo… Why did you choose Mashiro to teach your sister Hakuda? Surely Captain Soi Fon would've been a better option…" Kensei said. "Mashiro has a pretty unusual fighting style. She's admittedly excellent in hand-to-hand combat. But her style probably isn't suited to your sister."

"Well, we'll see. If it doesn't work, we'll look for someone else. Soi Fon scares Karin, and frankly, she scares me…" Ichigo whispered. Kensei actually laughed at this.

"Yeah… She's not actually as bad as she acts, but I understand the sentiment… The truth is, she's just super, _super_ tsundere." One of the Sixth Division members said with a nervous laugh. He was pretty sure that Soi Fon would personally gut him if he ever said that to her face, but he felt fairly secure saying it at the moment when she wasn't around.

"Tsundere? I don't think I'm familiar with that term. Does it have to do with the fact that she's a noble?"

" _What_!?" The two Sixth Division members said, their mouths hanging open.

"No… Tsundere… Um… It's supposed to describe someone who's cold and blunt most of the time, but becomes soft around the object of their affection…"

"You mean Ms Yoruichi?" Ichigo asked. "Yeah, I noticed that Captain Soi Fon was always nicer to Ms Yoruichi than to most people, but I didn't know there was a word for it."

"Anyway, Soi Fon actually isn't as scary as she looks…"

"Oh? That's good to know…" Came a voice from the doorway. The four men turned around, now completely stiff with nerves.

"C-C-Captain Soi Fon…"

"Captain Soi Fon… Why are you here?" Ichigo asked, worried about what her answer would be.

"Didn't Lieutenant Kuchiki tell you? You two aren't communicating very well if she didn't even tell you _that_." Soi Fon said with an irritating smirk. Ichigo normally would have told someone who made that suggestion to bite him, or something similar. But Ichigo had seen the way Soi Fon was able to fight, even against Aizen, and he had no intention of pissing her off.

"No… Lieutenant Kuchiki and I haven't really spoken much except for a few isolated incidents."

"Well, maybe you should at least send Hell Butterflies…"

"I never got that. Why call them Hell Butterflies. Isn't this supposed to be equivalent to Heaven? I've seen Hell. I've sent a Hollow or two down there."

"No! Kurosaki, I'm surprised at you. The Human perception of Heaven is inherently fallacious. Human souls hardly _ever_ travel to God's realm. You went there only once to have your Zanpakuto reforged, and to retrain yourself. Human souls travel from the Human World to Soul Society. It is not anything like the Human conception of Heaven."

"Alright, alright… Yeesh… No need to bite my head off…"

Soi Fon sighed at this, and bowed her head in apology, excusing herself timidly. Ichigo quickly followed her out of the barracks, though, grabbing her arm to stop her. He quickly found her blade directly on top of his wrist.

"Take your hand off, or I'll _cut_ it off!" Soi Fon snapped, sounding even more vicious than she had mere seconds ago.

"Sorry! Y-you just… Never told me why you came in the first place."

"Oh… S-sorry. Lieutenant Kuchiki asked if I could train Karin in Hakuda. But I can see that you already got Lieutenant Kuna to take the job. So if you'll excuse me, I have much work to do."

"Wait. You don't seem like yourself. I admit that I don't know you very well but you've always been so completely composed, but just now, you looked like a shy little schoolgirl."

"If I knew what a 'schoolgirl' was, perhaps I would be offended. I haven't the time to deal with your asinine babbling."

"Whatever…" Ichigo sighed. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Oh, shit! I left Rukia waiting at my office! I told her I'd be back soon!" Ichigo said nervously, rushing out, and moving into Shunpo with great speed, displaying great fleetness of foot. Before long, he was standing at his office, and saw that Rukia was still in there, sitting on the couch, drinking tea.

"Rukia… Sorry… I-I got caught up at the…"

"No need to explain. It's good to see you. I have the evening free. I was hoping to spend last night with you, but we were interrupted."

"Yeah… Sorry about that. I've told Lisa not to come to the barracks this evening. I really should be spending this evening meditating and practicing control over my reiatsu. But I'd much prefer to spend it with you."

"I shudder to think how Lisa interpreted that. Perhaps you should have been a bit more subtle."

"She won't tell anyone… I think…"

"Anyway, how are your captain's duties going? It must be difficult since you only just became a full-time Shinigami, and already you are a captain." Rukia said to Ichigo. Ichigo smiled sheepishly, and shrugged.

"Dunno. I must be doing alright. I haven't heard any complaints yet… Damnit!" Ichigo snapped furiously, pounding the table with his fist.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"We have visitors. I bet Lisa did this just to mess with me…"

"You give Lieutenant Yadomaru too little credit, Ichigo, she… Okay… Apparently she did set this up…" Rukia said with a slightly irritated smile.

"Hey, guys… It's been a really long time… Well, for most of you… Asano-san, Chizuru, Tatsuki, Inoue, and… Oh, my… So embarrassing… I've…"

"Mizuiro Kojima." Mizuiro said politely.

"And even Riruka is here… How nice to see you all…" Rukia said, standing up, and inviting the group in. As soon as the others got in, Rukia noticed that she had missed one.

"Yuzu-chan! Wow, you've changed so much!" Rukia said, inviting Yuzu in as well.

"Actually, I came because I thought I might be able to see Karin-chan… Everything is so dull and lifeless without her and Nii-chan in the house anymore. I really miss them. Is there really no way that Nii-chan and Karin-chan could come home?"

"Yuzu… I'm sorry." Ichigo said quietly. He then looked at the others, who all took the hint and went into the other room with Rukia to talk on their own.

"It is good to see you again, Yuzu. But, I…"

"You're always so distant, Nii-chan, even with your own family. Can't you call me Yuzu-chan… Even just once…"

"Of course, Yuzu-chan. You should live as a human. If you feel a need to train spiritual powers, you should consider talking to Ishida's old man. He's a Quincy. Has dad told you about what mom really was?" Ichigo asked. Yuzu shook her head. Ichigo sighed. He wasn't surprised, really.

"Well, dad used to be a Shinigami, and mom was a Quincy…"

"Sorry, Nii-chan, but what's a Quincy? Is it mom's family name?"

"No. Quincies are humans with spiritual powers that allow them to act in many ways similar to Shinigami. You've met Uryu, right?"

Yuzu nodded.

"Well, he's a Quincy, and he can use Spirit Particles to create bows that can kill Hollows. Quincies and Shinigami are fundamentally different, though. While Shinigami use their Spirit Energy to power their Zanpakuto and send Hollows to Rukongai, Quincies use their bows to destroy Hollows totally.

Hundreds of years ago, Shinigami and Quincies went to war because Soul Society claimed that the Quincies' habit of destroying Hollows permanently was throwing the world out of balance, since there are only a limited number of souls in existence, and when souls are destroyed, the scale that is the world is tipped slightly in one direction or the other.

Thus, Shinigami keep balance by sending the souls of Hollows to Rukongai. But Quincies serve a vital purpose as well. Since Quincies are humans, they can be right on the scene when Hollows attack, and protect humans where Shinigami have to come to the human world. It was all explained to me, but it's not quite as simple as that, even. So although Shinigami and Quincies are often on bad terms…"

"But I don't want to be a Quincy! I want to be a Shinigami, like Karin-chan, and Nii-chan, and dad! Can't I start learning to be a Shinigami as well?" Yuzu asked. Ichigo sighed. He didn't really know what to say.

"I can't say yes or no to that. It's up to dad. I'll send him a Hell Butterfly, and he can decide for himself. Would you like to see Karin? I can take you to her. She's practicing with Lieutenant Kuna, right now."

"O-oh, well… I wouldn't want to disturb her during practice…"

"Well, Karin'll probably come back here later. Guys! You can come back in! I'll talk about this with you later…"

"But you let Karin-chan be a Shinigami as soon as she asked! It's not fair!"

"She needed dad's permission as well. She got it beforehand."

"Okay… But who is that magenta haired girl? She's dressed really weirdly, and she talks even more weirdly…"

"Oh, that's Riruka Dokugamine… She's… I guess she's a friend, though I'm never quite sure with her…"

"You got pretty sweet digs, here, Ichigo!" Keigo said, coming in and sitting down right away without bothering to wait for an invitation. The others all waited until Ichigo told them they could before walking in and sitting down.

"Sorry we interrupted your date with Rukia, Ichigo…" Tatsuki said quickly. "Your lieutenant said that you weren't doing anything."

"I'm sure she just didn't know Kuchiki was here, Kurosaki-kun…" Orihime interjected diplomatically. Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other doubtfully.

"No. She just likes causing trouble. From what I know, she was the same for her former captain as well." Rukia said.

"Her former captain? How long has she been in Soul Society?" Mizuiro asked. Ichigo and Rukia exchanged shrugs.

"Dunno…" Ichigo said unenthusiastically. "From what I've been told, she's been a Shinigami for at least a hundred years, though, since she was already a lieutenant, I would imagine that she was a Shinigami for a long time before that even."

"Whoa! You mean she's _that_ old?" Keigo asked. Ichigo looked away, and snickered. If only Keigo knew just how old even Rukia was. From what she had said to Ichigo, she was at least 150 years old, though there was a chance that she was exaggerating, or rounding up or down, as she had only stated when Ichigo first met her that she 'had lived ten of his lifetimes'.

"Kurosaki-kun? Why did you leave so suddenly without telling any of us? Did you even think to tell anyone you were leaving forever?" Orihime asked, looking slightly hurt.

"Well… It was all kind of sudden, Inoue…

"Rukia showed up and told me that the Gotei Thirteen finally had requested that I join them permanently. They had finally filled a number of the captain vacancies left by Aizen, Gin and Tossen, but one or two died as a result of the Vandenreich attack on Soul Society, so they re…"

"That's no excuse!" Tatsuki snapped, jetting forward, and aiming a jab at Ichigo, which Ichigo deftly caught, and reversed their positions, holding Tatsuki's arm behind her back.

"Sorry, Tatsuki. Reflex."

"Even after all that practice, I'm still not as good as you." Tatsuki said with an irritated scowl. But then, she smiled.

"I'd have expected no less from the guy who managed to beat that psycho with the purple eyes."

"Well, I had a bit of help on that front. But did you just come here to visit? If so, I do have some snacks. It's mostly really weird stuff that the former captain left behind. But it's fine to eat, and it would be a shame to waste it." Ichigo said, surprising Rukia with how formal he was being. He went into the kitchen, and pulled out some water crackers and tapenade along with some sushi from the fridge. He then brought the snacks out, and went back and made some tea quickly, and served it as best he could.

The office was crowded, and he didn't have enough cups in a single set to give everyone the same style of cup. But he did his best, and they were all reasonably impressed.

"Don't look at me that way. Byakuya said that if I was gonna marry Rukia, that I had better learn some culture, or he'd never allow her to say 'I do'."

"May I ask who Byakuya is?" Tatsuki asked politely drinking her tea, and taking a piece of sushi from the plate.

"Mm… This sushi is really good! Where did you get this? There's nothing like this in Karakura Town." Orihime said cheerfully. "You know what would taste really good with this sushi, Kurosaki-kun?"

"W-what?" Ichigo asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"An ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, cherries, and pickles, and some cheese and potato chips on the side…"

The whole group stared at her as if she was mad.

"Are you sure your mistress is quite right in the head, Captain Kurosaki?" Lisa asked, causing the entire group to look up at Lisa for her rather inappropriate comment. "Apologies. Captain Kuchiki demanded to see you" Lisa said quietly. But her voice made the whole group look around as the serious looking captain walked in.

"Hello, Captain Kurosaki…" Byakuya said serenely, walking in and standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Nii-sama. It's good to see you." Rukia said deferentially, bowing politely to Byakuya. The others looked between Rukia and Byakuya for a moment. Tatsuki was the first to get the courage to speak.

"This guy is your brother? I do see the resemblance…" Tatsuki said with a nervous smile. Byakuya's presence was slightly unnerving.

"You would be mistaken. Any similarities in appearance are merely coincidental in nature. I was actually adopted by the Kuchiki Family. It's actually a _long_ story…" Rukia said with a weary sigh.

"Well, that's alright. The weekend is here, and we don't have anywhere to go. Let's hear it." Tatsuki said brightly. Rukia sighed again, and knelt down on the floor, took a sip of the tea that Ichigo had made. She had to admit that under Byakuya's rather harsh tutelage, he had gotten better at teamaking and tea ceremonies. But he still had nowhere near the skill that Byakuya had.

"Well, this actually happened years and years ago, after the Vizard incident, but before any of you were born. Nii-sama met a woman named Hisana. Hisana was my sister, but, knowing that she couldn't take care of me, she left me behind in the 78th District of Rukongai, an impoverished and crime strewn district to say the least.

Nii-sama and Hisana got married, but Hisana was sickly to begin with, and succumbed to her illness and died. Her dying wish was for Nii-sama to find and adopt me. Nii-sama did this, and, finding that I was skilled with the Shinigami Arts, enrolled me in the Shin'o Academy, which is how I became a Shinigami, and that's how we got to where we are today.

Well, it would be more accurate to say that Nii-sama defied the head of the family in adopting me. Already, he had gone against the Kuchiki Family in marrying Hisana. But he did so because he loved her, and because he loved her so much, he defied them again to adopt me."

"Wow… I gotta admit, Mr. Stiff here doesn't look even close to being that romantic…" Tatsuki said skeptically.

"It is true, Miss…"

"Arisawa…" Tatsuki said, not bothering to tell him to call her Tatsuki, as she was sure he wouldn't.

"Miss Arisawa. I am not a romantic person by nature, but Hisana brought out a better side of me. Surely you have had a person in your life who brought out a better side of you than you typically show…?" Byakuya said quietly. Tatsuki sighed. For her, that friend was Orihime. She didn't have anyone with whom she was in love, but she wasn't in a rush.

"I do not wish to alarm you, Captain Kurosaki, but you do realize that one of the Fullbringers is sitting right in front of you, correct?" Byakuya asked blandly, not seeming worried at all, but putting his hand on his Senbonzakura. Riruka grabbed her Love Gun, and pointed it at Byakuya, who tilted his head to the side, wondering if Riruka was really naïve or daft enough to think that a toy gun would defeat his Senbonzakura.

"Enough, enough. I don't want fighting in my home. Dokugamine-san is here by invitation. She's a friend…" Ichigo said, holding up his hand. "

"I see. Well, I have places I must be. Unlike you, I take my captaincy seriously. I wish you all a good evening and a pleasant weekend." Byakuya said, walking out of the room. At that moment, Karin walked into the room.

"Sorry, Ichi-nii… I know I should've knocked, but… What the hell…? When I leave there are two people and when I get back there are ten? And who the hell is the idiot with the dorky hat and the magenta pigtails!?" Karin snapped. She knew she was being rude, but she was in a bad mood. Ichigo could see Riruka ready to attack Karin, so he intervened immediately, and took Karin to the kitchen.

"Would you like some tea? Sure you would. Wait in here a moment. No need to get into a fight with Dokugamine-san." Ichigo said, turning to the stove, and setting more tea to boil. There had been so many people that he had poured all the water before Karin even got there.

"I-Ichi-nii… I-I know you're involved with Rukia, but… H-have you ever, even once thought of me in that way?" Karin asked, blushing nervously. She hadn't expected to have this conversation with him when she first walked in the door. But then she saw the shoes by the door. She recognized one or two of the pairs of shoes, but the rest had been unknown to her until she walked into the office and saw all the people sitting with Ichigo.

Ichigo looked at Karin sympathetically, not quite sure what to say. If he just said 'no' outright, he would hurt her feelings. But he would be lying if he said 'yes'. He had never 'felt that way' about either of his sisters.

"Karin-chan… You're one of the most beautiful girls I know, but… Well… You're my sister. I've never considered you _or_ Yuzu-chan in that way. It just wouldn't be appropriate. You're both so much younger than I am in the first place, and…"

"That doesn't matter to me. I can wait! I will wait as long as I need to until you love me the way I love you." Karin said with a determination that Ichigo had rarely seen in Karin. She had always been a determined and strong willed girl, but this really went beyond just willpower.

"Karin-chan… You shouldn't close yourself off to other men just because you like me right now. You're only thirteen. You have a long life ahead of you, and you're sure to meet many men whose eye you'll catch. Just be open to other people.

Ah! The tea's ready…" Ichigo said, cutting off the conversation, and pouring Karin's tea, making sure to use the right proportions. Byakuya had told Ichigo that tea ceremonies and teamaking was an art, not a science, but that the proper proportions were still important. After a minute or two, Ichigo handed Karin her cup, and walked back out to the office with her.

"Man… Why does Ichigo have all the luck with the women?" Keigo was asking loudly as Ichigo and Karin walked back in. "Arisawa-san, Inoue, Kuchiki, Dokugamine… Even his own sister is in love with him…"

"I am _not_ in love with Ichigo!" Tatsuki snapped, bolting to a standing position. "We're just good friends!"

"And I'm not in love with him, either, idiot!" Riruka yelled furiously. "He's just perfectly amazing in every way…" She said proudly, as if this answered any doubts Keigo may have had.

Karin merely blushed at this as the only people who didn't seem surprised by this were Yuzu, who had known about Karin's brother complex for a long time, Rukia, who had seen Karin confess to Ichigo, Ichigo, and Riruka, who agreed fully with Karin that Ichigo was amazing. Frankly, Karin wouldn't have wanted this fact to get out like this. But, overall, it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

"Well… We've gotta get going anyway. It may be the weekend, but homework abounds…" Tatsuki said, sensing that this was her cue to exit the domicile as it were.

"Alright, see you guys later. Don't worry about cleaning up. I can do it later…"

"What? Really? We can he…" Tatsuki began. She would have felt bad leaving Ichigo to do all the work.

"No, no. It would be impolite to ask guests to help clean up. Besides, you don't want to miss your gate, do you? It was good seeing you…"

"But you do have work to do, don't you?"

"Unfortunately. I never thought being a captain would be so challenging. Good luck with your college exams if I don't see you again before then."

"A-alright… Have a good night, Ichigo…" Tatsuki said uncomfortably, walking out with the rest of the group.

"Alright, now Karin… How did your lesson with Lieutenant Kuna go?" Ichigo asked, both Karin and Rukia sitting down on the couch that was in the office.

"Well… First, Lieutenant Kuna had me do all these bizarre stretches. I had to pull my legs up and put my feet behind my head like this…" Karin said, groaning still in pain at the hard work she had done.

"Then we went onto a few more stretches before we got to fighting. I had trouble fighting Lieutenant Kuna. Her fighting style is weird. It didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it, but she was so flexible that she could get out of any situation with just a few movements. By the end, I sort of began to be able to fight her. But it still gave me a headache to follow her."

"Well, take some Motrin and get to bed. You'll be seeing her again tomorrow."

"O-oh… I can't see her tomorrow. I have another date with Toshiro…"

"Captain Hitsugaya?" Rukia asked, straightening up slightly.

"Yeah. Why?" Karin asked. Rukia smied and shook her head.

"No reason. Excuse me I need to head back to the Kuchiki home for the evening…" Rukia said with a smile, and she bowed, walking out.

"Well… I guess that leaves me to take you back to the Shin' o Academy. Well... It is getting dark, so let's get going… Karin?"

"Ichi-nii… I know I'm never going to stop being in love with you. But if 'no' is really your final answer…" Karin said, tears actually threatening to fall. She hadn't cried since their mother died. Not even once. "Then I'll accept that. Besides, you seem to be really happy with Rukia, and I wouldn't want to take that away from you."

"Thank you, Karin. Do you want to take another lesson with Lieutenant Kuna tomorrow?"

"Can't. I'm expected on another date with Toshiro. I think he likes me. It isn't that I mind spending time with him. He showed me some really interesting stuff last time, but I don't want him to get the wrong idea."

"Then just tell him that you aren't interested in him like that."

"But if I'm wrong, I'll just end up making an ass of myself…"

"Well, then wait for him to ask you out and if he never does, it's never a problem. If he does, you can reject him and have done with it."

"Can I really reject him? I mean, he is a captain. Wouldn't that kind of be a faux pas?"

"No. The only captain I would really look out for is Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Never agree to do _anything_ for him without finding out what he really wants. He tried to capture and dissect Uryu when we came to Soul Society the first time. His madness runs pretty deep."

"Ichi-nii? Before I give up on you… Can you do me one favor?" Karin asked, looking deeply flustered. Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked. It wasn't that he didn't trust Karin. He never agreed to anything until he knew what it was he was agreeing to.

"Could you kiss me? I mean for real… Like, on the lips…"

"No." That would be a complete betrayal of Rukia, and would totally get his ass killed by Byakuya if he ever found out, especially since it was Ichigo's own sister.

"Please? Just once. Then I'll never ask again…"

"Fine… But seriously… Never again…" Ichigo said, getting a bad feeling. He was being far too accommodating and nothing good ever came of that. He leaned down to Karin's level, and cupped her cheek, kissing her on the lips… Just as Rukia walked back in.

"Ichigo? Karin?" Rukia had come back for some reason, and walked in on the worst possible situation.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Ichigo? Karin?" Rukia gasped, coming in just as Ichigo kissed Karin. It was ironic that she would come in at that moment. Karin immediately shoved Ichigo off of her and sprinted forward, grabbed Rukia's wrist and using her lower vantage point, as she was crouching, to sweep Rukia's foot, and force her back into the office.

"So, what? Now you're not going to let me leave? If I know one thing it's that Ichigo wouldn't hurt me and that you, strong as you are, Karin-chan, you couldn't lay a finger on me in battle.

"It's not what it looks like, Rukia…" Karin said flatly. Rukia stared at Karin doubtfully, not saying anything for a second… Then two seconds… Then four. Finally, after a painfully protracted silence, she spoke.

"Really? Because it looked like you were just about to… What was the human phrase? 'Make in' with Karin-chan…"

"Well, first off, Rukia-chan…"

"Don't call me that, fool!" Rukia snapped, kicking Ichigo in the face even harder than she usually did. Ichigo laughed inwardly, feeling that he had gotten back the Rukia he knew back when he first met her.

"Rukia, then… First off, the phrase is 'to make _out_ '.

" _Really_?" Rukia asked, momentarily forgetting her anger. "I thought because the person's tongue entered the other's mouth…"

"Second of all," Ichigo interrupted impatiently. "We weren't making out, and if you really think so little of me as to think that I would cheat on you then I really do wonder if you know me at all." Ichigo said, feeling that he had the right to be at least a little bit irritated that she would instantly jump to 'he's cheating on me with his sister' when she saw what happened.

"Okay… Well, I'm all ears, as they say. Did I get that right? Good." Rukia said when Ichigo and Karin nodded.

"Well, you already know that I love Ichi-nii. He's told me on several occasions of late that he doesn't feel the same way. I just asked him to give me one kiss… One real kiss, and then I would give up."

"And you think I should believe that load of Malarko?"

"You mean Malarkey? Well, tell me, Rukia… You trusted Ichi-nii enough to trust your very life to him on numerous occasions."

"That's irrelevant. The American public trusted Bill Clinton to be president, and he still cheated on Hillary with that Monica Lewinsky…"

" _How_ is it that Rukia is failing every subject other than Japanese in school?" Karin whispered to Ichigo. Ichigo shrugged. She had made quite the insightful comment. Trusting someone with your life and trusting someone with your love could be two different things.

"Well… I can't make you believe me, Rukia. I would like you to. I don't want bad blood between us… Especially since your brother'd probably Senbonzakura my ass if he found out. But I can't and won't try to force you."

"You know, Ichigo… You're an idiot!" Rukia shouted, taking out her sword, causing Karin to take out her bokken more out of habit than that she thought it would help. Instead, though, Rukia merely slammed Ichigo in the stomach with the hilt of the sword, causing Ichigo to collapse in pain to the floor.

"But a better person…" Rukia continued, her face softening. "I've never known." She whispered. "I believe you."

"Then… Why did you hit me in the stomach like that?" Ichigo gasped. Rukia gave Ichigo a smirk that discomfited him slightly. "Well, because it was funny… And because you're still an idiot. Even if you weren't cheating on me, you just kissed your own sister on the lips." 

"Yeah, yeah… Sorry…" Ichigo muttered, blushing. He admitted that it was flattering to have so many beautiful women interested in him… Rukia, Karin, Orihime, Riruka (even if she wouldn't admit it). But he would still never love anyone like he loved Rukia. It seemed ironic that everyone and his sister seemed intent on interrupting that evening.

"Oh, my… Isn't this an interesting scene? I do apologize for interrupting. I knocked and waited, but nobody came to the door…" Captain Kyoraku said politely, bowing to the group. "Hello, Rukia-chan, Karin-chan…" 

"Don't call me Karin-chan, old man! You're not my friend, you're a creepy old perv!"

"Karin! That's the Commander-General!" Rukia snapped, appalled that Karin would speak so rudely to the head of the Gotei Thirteen.

"No, no… It's alright… I am getting on in years…" Kyoraku said with a mild laugh. "Maybe I'll be lucky enough to grow as old as Yama-jii someday…"

"Who's Yama-jii?" Karin asked.

"He was the former commander-general and the most powerful Shinigami in the Court Guard… Outside the Royal Guard, of course."

"Well, to what do we owe the honor, Commander-General?" Rukia asked politely.

"Oh, there's no need for such formality, Rukia. I just need you and Ichigo to go down to Karakura Town…"

"Us? Surely a normal Shinigami could do it? Do you really need a captain and a lieutenant to do it?"

"Well, there's been reports of strange spiritual activity going on in Karakura recently. It isn't quite Hollow activity, but Shinigami that I've sent have returned with severe wounds that even our best healers can't fix… It's bizarre.

I think you'd agree. I've spoken to Kisuke, and he's all set up to give housing to you for a little while. He says he won't even charge you."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other skeptically. Kisuke didn't seem like he was that much of a philanthropist that he would allow them to stay at his place for free. Regardless, it was what they had, so they had no right to complain.

"Can I go, too, Commander-General?" Karin asked, completely changing her tone, now. Kyoraku looked over at her with a rueful smile.

"Ooh… Much as I hate to deny a beautiful woman, sweetie, I can't let you get involved in this. You aren't even a member of the Court Guard yet, much less a seated member."

"Karin-chan… Go back to the Shin'o Academy and focus on your education." Ichigo said firmly, surprising Karin with the –chan suffix. She nodded, unable to say anything.

Tatsuki looked over her shoulder suspiciously. For over a week, now, she had been being followed. It wasn't so much that she was afraid. She knew that she was second best in Japan, even with a broken arm. But it was uncomfortable to have some creep following her.

At first, she had assumed that the man had been following Orihime, so she always walked Orihime home first, then went home herself. But today, she was walking alone and the person was still following her. That meant that either the person wanted her, or that the person was interested in knowing who was protecting Orihime. Tatsuki would never let a creep hurt Orihime.

She had led the person into a relatively open place. She felt certain that she could fight them off if she needed to, and that if she couldn't, she could scream and kick… No… She wouldn't do that. Her pride wouldn't allow her to act so weak.

Tatsuki stopped and turned around to see a skinny, somewhat androgynous looking man walking up to her, looking slightly nervous. He wrung his hands. Tatsuki backed into a fighting position, and ordered him not to move.

"Stay right there. I swear I'll break your fucking neck if you take another step!" Tatsuki demanded, finding that there was something about the man that set her on edge, made her more nervous than she should be around a man of his apparently weak constitution.

"My… I-I knew you had to be a strong and confident woman, but to threaten me with such violence?" The man muttered nervously. Tatsuki relaxed slightly.

"I'm only a fan of yours, Miss Arisawa. I saw you with your girlfriend, and I didn't wish to interrupt you while you were on a date."

"Sh-she's not my girlfriend! Why do people assume I'm gay!?" Tatsuki demanded, blushing partially in indignation and partially in embarrassment. She had in fact had feelings for Orihime for years. But they weren't dating, and she was sure they never would.

"Well, no offense meant, Miss Arisawa… But it's easy to mistake one of your… Bold disposition as being gay. But… I'm a great admirer of yours, Miss Arisawa… I saw your match all those years ago when you got second place even with a broken arm…

I-I was sure you were going to win. That was what got me interested in martial arts. As you can see I'm still not much to speak of. But, I still wanted to meet you at least once."

"Oh… W-well…" Tatsuki said nervously, not sure whether she should let the man get any closer to her. He acted so shy and harmless, but there was something about him that set her on edge.

"Well… There's no need to stay so far away from me…" Tatsuki said, ignoring her worries, and relaxing further. The man smirked, and suddenly, Tatsuki was certain she saw a flicker of light on the concrete below and saw the pavement ripple like it was only rubber. Then the man was gone from her sight…

In the next moment, Tatsuki reacted even before she could think. The man stopped and looked at her with a cold, calculating look, trying to determine whether she was simply well trained or if she had spiritual awareness, or both.

"I'm impressed, Miss Arisawa. Most people don't even notice me moving. But I saw you look down at my feet and start when my Bringer light flickered and the concrete rippled." He looked around and saw that they were quite alone.

Again, he flashed forward, but this time, he was careful not to let there be tell-tale signs of his movement, and this time, he was successful in tazering Tatsuki in the chest, causing her to convulse momentarily, frothing at the mouth, and collapsing to the ground.

"Oh, good. You're awake. It's nice to see you in the waking world again, Miss Arisawa. I admit that you're beautiful when you sleep. I've met very few women as beautiful as you. I was considering going after that friend of yours.

"She had such an amazing aura, such joie de vivre. But alas, I felt certain that she wouldn't be as interesting to pursue as you. You see, my hunting has become boring. It's too easy. Nobody has any clue what's going on, and nobody seems able to counter me. _You_ of all people surely understand that, right? A woman who's come out on top in such a world as ours."

"Shut up… You wouldn't even be able to touch Orihime!" Tatsuki sighed, halfheartedly moving against her restraints. It was more the ropes around her legs that she was worried about. If she could break them, she could escape. She was a fast runner, and she had proven that she could outrun almost anyone in her class, save for Ryo Kuneida who could run the 100 meter in 10 seconds flat.

"Don't bother fighting your bindings. You won't escape, and if you behave, I won't harm you. You see, I'm running… A genetic experiment. I've proven to have exceptional genetics. I'm smart, talented, handsome and powerful." The man said, wiping the flour off his face and standing up straight, fluffing out his shirt to take on his full height.

Contrary to how he had looked before, he was actually about 172 cm tall, and though he was slender, he wasn't as skinny and weak as he had looked at first. His hair was long and slightly messy and was stark white, though that may have been a result of the flour in it. It could have been any light color.

"Do you know the problem with people today, Tatsuki Arisawa? Please don't overthink this. It's a simple answer. The problem with people is not that they're stupid. It's not that they've become inferior. It's that we've slid into decadence.

"In other words, humans are slothful. 'Good enough' has become acceptable and the men and women who lead the nations of the world have done nothing of consequence to remedy the situation. I believe that that is an injustice to the human race.

"Humans evolved from apes to become superior, and now that superior humans exist, they are forced into hiding, forced to remain silent about their abilities for fear that fearful and bigoted humans will fear and hate them for their powers. Does that seem like a world worth living in?"

"I disagree with you. But obviously my opinion doesn't matter to you… Besides, you're starting to bore me, dipshit…" Tatsuki snapped, twisting, having freed her legs a few seconds before, performing almost a break dancing move, sweeping the man's legs out from under him and kicking him in the stomach and starting to run away.

Almost immediately, the man was standing again, and grabbed Tatsuki's arm with a strength that shocked her to the bone.

Regardless, though, Tatsuki swept his legs again and missed this time, but then turned around and elbowed the man in the solar plexus. She then grabbed his arm and flipped him into a pile of crates, smashing them.

Slowly, the man stood, groaning but also smiling and clapping.

"See? This is the kind of experience I wanted. You're intelligent, you have good instincts and you listen to your instincts… For the most part. It was foolish to let your guard down around me.

"I saw your suspicion when you felt the predator in me. Then you ignored your gut instinct. Most women never manage to even touch me, even if they do suspect me. But you, you countered my moves in succession, and even got in a few of your own.

"However… I really haven't got time for this. I do apologize, Tatsuki-chan…" The man said with a laugh, holding his hands out and gripping them tight. Suddenly, Tatsuki gasped in agony as both her legs were broken at the same time and she collapsed to the ground.

"That's better. Just relax until this is over, Tatsuki-chan. I promise you'll feel much better in a moment. Ooh! Look at that! The sun is setting… Perfect. Tatsuki-chan… Have you ever pictured, or imagined what your first time would be like?

"No. Don't answer. It would ruin the moment…" The man said, seeming far more manic and excited now. Slowly, he pulled Tatsuki's skirt down and slowly, tortuously dragged his finger along her pussy, causing Tatsuki to squirm. It was horrifying, but she was… Unwillingly, of course, feeling it. It was sending a tingling through her body that made lights burst before her eyes.

"Feels good, doesn't it? I'm pretty good, huh?"

"W-what… What are you doing?" Tatsuki gasped, barely able to speak now. She could feel her pussy getting wetter and wetter.

"A woman as smart as you shouldn't need me to tell you. I'm passing on my genes. If more people in the world had my talent, maybe the world would be a less mediocre place. Please just stay down and it will be over soon. I'll even call the ambulance for you afterward." The man said. Tatsuki tried futilely to elbow the man, but found that she was weak from blood loss.

"You smell really nice, Tatsuki-chan. I wasn't lying when I said that I was an admirer of yours. You're exactly the kind of person I want to fill the world with. Somebody who isn't satisfied with being second rate. I'm impressed.

"You're getting really wet. You must be really horny. Maybe you're actually bisexual. Well, either way, I suppose it doesn't matter to me… And there… It… Goes…" He said, watching as the sun went completely over the horizon and the moon showed itself completely. Slowly, the man pulled his pants down, showing himself to be completely hard and pretty big.

It was in that moment that Tatsuki made one last bid for freedom, and bit the man on the hand as he reached down to restrain her, and he yelped and pulled his hand back.

"Quite the little viper, aren't you? Well, I can fix that." The man said, flicking his wrist. Tatsuki screamed in pain as a gouge was cut across her left eye, blinding her in that eye. It also cut open her school shirt.

"Now, please don't fight any further. I don't want to have to hurt you any more." The man said, once more pushing down on Tatsuki. He was about to penetrate when he was interrupted once more. This time, though it was by an outside source.

"Hold it, you freak!" Came a male voice. The man stood up, not bothering to turn and face them.

"Yeah, yeah… Gimme thirty minutes. Go get some coffee… Or tea, or something… It's on me." The man said dismissively, waving a hand at the intruder, throwing some money on the ground, not even turning to look at them. Ichigo shook his head, though.

"Now! Get up and turn around!" Slowly, the man turned around, and comprehension dawned in his eyes

"Ah… You must be the infamous Ichigo Kurosaki. I couldn't miss the bright orange hair. And if I'm not mistaken, you're… Rukia Kuchiki?

"You're even more beautiful in person. I have to say, Kurosaki-san. You have great taste in women. Miss Kuchiki is smart, beautiful, strong, talented, influential."  
"That's Lieutenant Kuchiki to you. We of the Gotei Thirteen…"

"Have been sent to deal with the threat that you pose to the human world, blah, blah, blah… Please surrender yourself peacefully and come quietly, blah, blah, blah…" The man said exasperatedly. "Yeah, I've heard this at least three times already.

"I've already dispatched your three comrades. They're not dead. I passed on my superior genetic material to the females. One of them was a virgin. The third was a man. Neither of the women remembers the fight. I wasn't worried about the man."

"And just now, you were about to rape Tatsuki…" Ichigo said. The man shook his head. "Of course not. I was doing a favor for the human race. I'd explain the logistics of it if I felt I had the time, and if I felt that a dimwitted boob like you could understand. But I really must kill you two, finish with Tatsuki and get on my way." The man said.

"I guess I can tell you. My name is Tabito Megumi. I know, it's a bit of a girlish name. It's a pleasure to meet the both of you, though. Now, good bye…" Megumi said, waving his arms. Suddenly all the crates, rocks, trash cans and other debris in the alley rose into the air and went flying at Ichigo and Rukia, both of whom dodged as best they could. However, when they gathered their senses again, they found that Megumi was gone.

"That was weird. Rukia-chan? Did you recognize the power he was using?" Ichigo asked, going about finding Tatsuki and helping her up. She couldn't stand.

"Oh, boy… Let me see, Tatsuki…" Rukia said, feeling bad seeing Tatsuki so badly off. She didn't have any clothes that would fit Tatsuki, given how much bigger Tatsuki's breasts were than her own. Rukia had to say that she sometimes felt jealous of Tatsuki and Orihime, wondering what they had done to be blessed with such large breasts.

Ichigo had said that it wasn't important. But Rukia wasn't sure that was true. From what she had read of the human literature in Kisuke's shop, breast size mattered to men, especially where sex acts were involved.

"Well… I don't have any clothes that'll fit you, Tatsuki…" Rukia said ruefully. You can't walk around stark naked… What should we do?"

"Call Orihime… Tell her where we're at the intersection of Kichi and Araki. She'll know where that is."

"Inoue? Yeah… I guess her clothes would fit you with space to spare, wouldn't they?" Rukia asked. Tatsuki scowled with her one good eye.

"No need to rub it in."

"But I don't know Inoue's number…" Ichigo said. Both Rukia and Tatsuki looked at Ichigo skeptically.

"Ichigo… The woman who's been in love with you for years now hasn't given you her phone number yet?"

"I never asked for it. Why would I need it?"

"Idiot. Well… I have it… Hold on… Yeah, Hey, Orihime… Could you bring some clothes to the intersection of Kichi and Araki? Never mind why I need them! I'll tell you about it later." Tatsuki demanded, exhausted just from that small exertion. She had lost quite a bit of blood between her leg and her eye.

Sooner than Ichigo and Rukia would have suspected, Orihime descended from above, appearing right in front of them, Bringer light flickering around her feet. Ichigo and Rukia both knew that Orihime was a Fullbringer, but to find that she had such fine control of her power now was impressive.

"Tatsuki-chan! What happened to you!? Your eye! It's completely gouged out!" Orihime cried, hugging Tatsuki tightly.

"I knew that someone had been following us for over a week, now. I assumed they were following you… Another one of your creepy admirers, so I ignored them. But then, today I knew they were following me. He came out and said he was an admirer of mine.

"It turned out he was some weird telekinetic rapist freak… No, he didn't rape me. Ichigo and Rukia got here before he could. But he put out my eye and broke both my legs… Damnit! It hurts!" Tatsuki yelled, knowing that screaming about it wouldn't help, but finding that it made her feel a little bit better.

"Oh, Tatsuki-chan… We'll get you cleaned up and fixed as soon as we get back to Mr. Urahara's shop… Kurosaki-kun… Could you carry Tatsuki-chan? I would be…"

"Of course. Climb on, Tatsuki… Actually, scratch that. Just hold still… Ichigo said, hefting Tatsuki and using flash step to head on over to Kisuke's shop.

Soon, the group reached it with Orihime far behind, panting as she pulled up in front of the shop, but not complaining. By the time she walked in she found Tessai already performing Kido over Tatsuki's body. He looked up at Orihime and sighed.

"I was able to repair her legs. Those were merely crushed as if by a very strong pair of hands. However, the eye is a different story. It seems to be oozing some strange energy that I can't put my finger on. I have asked the owner to attempt to identify it.

He has taken a sample of the blood in her eye and is analyzing it right now. But it may be a while, he says. If this is a new power that we haven't heard of, it may be difficult to understand."

"I understand. May I try to fix her eye? My power is a little bit different from yours, Mr. Tessai. Maybe it will have a different outcome." Orihime said politely.

"You can try. Please be careful, though. The owner wouldn't like it if you got hurt on his watch."

"I understand… Tatsuki-chan, are you awake?" Orihime asked gently, leaning down and looking down at Tatsuki, tears flooding her brilliant brown eyes. Tatsuki looked up with her one good eye.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm awake." Tatsuki said, blushing again.

"Good… I'm going to try to heal your eye. Mr. Tessai couldn't fix it, but I'm hoping that I can." Orihime replied. 

"Whether or not you can doesn't matter. One eye or two, I still see only you…" Tatsuki muttered. She found that after her strange and frightening experience with that magic user, she appreciated life in a whole new way such that she wouldn't miss a chance to tell Orihime how she felt.

If it changed Orihime's opinion of her, then that only meant that their friendship must not have been that strong to begin with.

"Oh, I know."

"I really… Wait, what?"

"I've known how you felt about me for a while now. The way you always defend me. The way you always keep Chizuru-chan from grabbing me. I figured I would just wait until you were ready to tell me…" Orihime said sweetly, showing much more insight than she usually displayed.

"R-right… Well… H-heal away, then…" Tatsuki muttered, now a deep shade of crimson.

Orihime no longer needed to speak the names of her Shunshunrikka to use them, so she released them and worked on Tatsuki's eye. However, she found that she couldn't fix it all the way. She certainly couldn't restore vision to it, and the scar remained, though it did diminish a bit, and it could now be hidden by an eye patch. In fact, at that moment, Kisuke walked in with a white medical eye patch and handed it to Tatsuki.

"I figured that you might not be able to fix it… At least not right away. We'll continue to work on it. Maybe one of the Vizard can fix it."

"Who are the Vizard? They people like you, Orihime? Who can use powers?" Tatsuki asked, raising an eyebrow. Orihime nodded.

"Well… Yes… If what Kurosaki-kun explained to me has stuck, they were people like him, but then Sosuke Aizen did some weird stuff to them with a magic orb called the Hogyoku and transformed them into Hollows and they had to leave Soul Society and live in a warehouse down by the docks." Orihime said.

Ichigo was impressed that she was speaking so coherently. He knew that Orihime was certainly intelligent. It was merely that her head was always off in space, so she often didn't make much sense when she spoke.

"You're pretty close, Miss Inoue." Kisuke said with a grin. Then, his smile faded and he was all business.

"Aizen did betray Soul Society one hundred years ago. But he didn't use the Hogyoku on the Vizard. If he had, their conversions into Shinigami/Hollow hybrids would have been much cleaner. As it was, he used science that I had initially discovered, and he modified slightly to suit his own ends, so I couldn't explain it fully as he burned his notes and I had little time to look for them.

"But he turned the Vizard into Shinigami/Hollow hybrids. But they weren't exactly half and half. Rather, think of it like a pie chart. Aizen wedged a 15-17% Hollow soul into the Shinigami soul that they already had, and that was powerful enough to forcibly transform them into Shinigami/Hollows… And…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… All this science talk is terribly interesting…" Tatsuki said sarcastically. "But _why_ did he do it?"

"Oh! Oh, right! Well, you see, a Shinigami soul, just like a Human body and a Human soul has a limit as to how powerful it can be in any one area. Think of it as a chart of percentages. Spiritual Power, Kido, Speed, etc, etc. But, what if you could break that supposedly unbreakable limit? Well… You can.

"But you have to be willing to make a sacrifice. You have to be willing to become part Hollow. And _that_ is high treason in the eyes of Soul Society as it goes against _everything_ Soul Society fights for. At that time, 100 years ago, Aizen was only doing tests.

"He was finding out if there were any limitations to what such a transformation could do, what kinds of souls could handle the transformations, blah, blah, blah. He found out that a Soul had to be at least lieutenant level to handle such a drastic change in one's spiritual constitution. Mr. Kurosaki was lucky. He wasn't anywhere near lieutenant level when he was hollowfied…

"That's another story that I can tell later. He wasn't destroyed as the other souls were… Or rather, the souls spontaneously disintegrated, leaving no trace that they were there save their shoes and clothes. If I'm correct, Aizen used my banishment from Soul Society to go through my research and find that I had built the Hogyoku, or the Destruction Orb.

"It was one of the few things, though that I took with me from Soul Society, and I planted it in Rukia-chan's gigai when she first came to the Human world. That was why she was sentenced to death. It wasn't because Aizen had anything against her.

"He needed the Hogyoku to continue his experiments and his plans. He managed to get the Hogyoku and disappeared into Hueco Mundo, which…"

"You really like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Tatsuki asked, distinctly unimpressed.

"Aww! You're making me blush!"

"It wasn't a compliment!" Tatsuki snapped furiously.

"Don't mind him, Tatsuki… He's just an idiot who's been gathering sawdust in his head for years, now…" Ichigo said.

Suddenly, that somehow brought Tatsuki back to the point she was thinking of for hours until Kisuke went off on that Hokey-pokey or whatever nonsense.

"Isn't sexual assault the kind of shit we should report to the police?" Tatsuki asked, one eyebrow raised. The entire group looked at her.

"And when you tell them that a freak sexually assaulted you and then proceeded to telekinetically bombard us with garbage from the alley?" Kisuke asked. Then, he smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry. We will report it. I don't doubt that he's done this before.

"He seems to have gotten this down to an art if he was able to catch you by surprise like that, Miss Arisawa. We have to work out how much of the police report to fabricate so that it will still be real enough to put them on alert. You said he was stronger than you, right?"

"Yeah… It was frightening how strong he was. It was like he wasn't even human…" Tatsuki muttered, shivering.

"That's good. We can use that…" Kisuke said with a wink. Actually, can you walk, Miss Arisawa?"

Tatsuki struggled to get to her feet and wobbled before stabilizing herself.

"Yeah. I can walk."

Kisuke took his cane and wacked Tatsuki's shins hard enough to make her legs buckle under her. He caught her in his arms, and carried her out the door.

"No you can't. The man broke your legs with his bare hands. He was just that strong." Kisuke said with another wink. Tatsuki made a mental note both of the fact that she had to act as though she couldn't walk and to hit Kisuke as hard as she could as soon as she could.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Officers!" Kisuke yelled, pretending to gasp for breath, as if he'd carried Tatsuki in his arms for miles.

"What happened?" An officer asked, standing up to greet Kisuke. They didn't know him. In fact, he was rather bizarre looking, but seemingly harmless.

"My niece was just sexually assaulted… We… We brought her right here…" Kisuke muttered, collapsing into a chair that they offered him, looking at them gratefully as they took her out of his arms.

"Her legs are both broken. She needs a hospital. She's fine… Just sleeping…" Kisuke said as Tatsuki twitched in the officer's arms, waving her arms, accidentally punching the officer in the face, yelling at him to get off of her. In fact, Kisuke had put a mild sleeping spell on her.

"She would be asleep until woken up by one of the officers. Orihime had begrudgingly reversed the repair of Tatsuki's legs and eye so that they still were broken and bleeding. Otherwise, it may not have been convincing.

"Well… Hey, Miss… Please wake up…" The officer muttered, gently prodding Tatsuki, who woke up by punching the officer in the face again and screaming for him to get away from her.

This almost caused the officer to drop her. He held her fast, though, and took her to a room and sat her down. Her legs were killing her and her eye was worse. It was still under the eye patch, but the eye patch was now stained red with blood.

She remembered suddenly why they were there and sat up straight, looking alertly around the room, pretending to be slightly paranoid.

"W-where am I!? W-what happened to… Him?"

"Him? And who is _'he_ '?" The officer asked gently. Tatsuki thought for a moment.

"Tabito Megumi. I remember because it was kind of a feminine name. He was definitely a boy, though…"

"It does happen from time to time. And where was it that this happened?"

"In an alley by the intersection of Kichi and Araki. I don't usually go to that neighborhood, but I was sure I was being followed, so I wanted to lead him somewhere open. It worked against me, though… I-I got lost… Oh, God… Th-this is all my fault…" Tatsuki muttered, tears filling her eyes.

The tears were real. For hours after the event she realized, she had still been in shock, and now that she was coming down from that bizarre and terrifying high that had her body so tense that she was sure it would snap, she felt like a little girl again, crying to her mother.

"It's not your fault. Please just tell me what happened… If you can remember, as best you can…" The officer said gently. He was a father to a young woman about Tatsuki's age as well. She and Tatsuki could have been friends in any given situation.

"First off, what did you say your name was?"

"T-Tatsuki… T-Tatsuki *gulp* Arisawa…"

Wait… Tatsuki Arisawa? He knew that name… _Of course_! The karate nationals a few years back. She had come in second place, even with a broken arm. Her daughter had been kind of a tomboyish girl for years as well, and had followed the karate nationals every year.

"Miss Arisawa… Can you tell me what happened?"

"Y-yeah… I was walking down Kichi onto Araki when I was stopped by this guy. H-he said he saw the karate nationals and was a fan of mine… I-I knew I shouldn't let him approach me… But he seemed harmless… I guess that was stupid of me, wasn't it?"

The officer couldn't argue that it wasn't careless of a young woman to allow herself to be approached by a strange man for any reason. But he said nothing, and Tatsuki continued.

"Well… He ranted for a minute or two about the karate nationals, and how he enjoyed watching me fight. But then, suddenly he was right at my side, and he tazered me.

"W-when I woke up, I was in an alley bound in ropes and he was there. He started bragging about… How he was trying to improve the world with better genetics… I have to say, I'm not really the academic type, so I didn't get some of what he said…"

"That's alright. I think I understand more or less what he was saying to you. Please continue."

"Well, while he was monologuing like some James Bond villain, I managed to get out of my leg ropes…"

The man stopped there to admire Tatsuki's guts and determination. She was truly a fierce woman if she still planned to fight after being tazered.

"And I kicked him a few times and got into a fight… B-but he was stronger than anyone I've ever met… I-it was like he wasn't even human, and he crushed each of my legs… With one hand… "

The officer had to admit that this was odd. Very few men alive, even highly trained special ops agents could crush a person's leg with one hand…. Most couldn't do it with two. It typically required a strike to the area being broken. The officer made a note of this in particular.

"And then… He…"

"He raped you?"

"What? No… Then my friends showed up… The people who brought me here… Th-they arrived just in time. I-I think they scared him off… M-my friend out there with the orange hair looks like a bit of a delinquent, but he's a good person…"

"Do you think you could describe him to a sketch artist, Miss Arisawa?"

"Just call me Tatsuki… I can do better than that. I'm a pretty good artist, so I could draw him better than I could describe him." Tatsuki said determinedly. She wasn't sure if this was a good idea. She was told that the police might ask her to give a description and to lie about what he looked like as he was too dangerous to be apprehended by the police.

"I guess that's fine. Here… Just draw him on this…" The officer said, handing Tatsuki a pencil and some paper. Tatsuki set to work replicating what she had decided he was going to look like. Instead of the slender and lithe man that he actually was, Tatsuki drew him as a tall and muscular man with rather ominous features and long and grizzly hair.

When she finished, she felt proud of how she had done at lying even in giving a description.

"This is an excellent picture. We should hire you to take our sketch artist's place…" The officer said with a sheepish laugh.

"We can call an ambulance if you like, Mr…"

"Urahara. No. We have a friend who runs a clinic… We can take her to see him…"

"Okay… Please hurry… She looks ready to keel over…" The officer said. Kisuke nodded and grabbed Tatsuki, knowing that he couldn't have her healed in front of the officers.

And so, he grabbed her and took her to another alley. He couldn't deny the irony in this. She had been attacked and very nearly beaten to death in an alley, and now she was being healed in an alley.

"Miss Inoue… Would you do the honors?" Kisuke asked, setting Tatsuki down on a clean blanket he had brought with him. Orihime nodded, and knelt over Tatsuki, apologizing briefly for unhealing her, and using her powers again to fix Tatsuki's legs.

This time, her healing was much more effective. Though she still couldn't replace Tatsuki's eye, she was able to remove the scar along Tatsuki's face. Orihime was glad of that. She had always thought Tatsuki was beautiful, and didn't like to see her face harmed like that. In that moment, Orihime promised herself that she would hunt down Tabito Megumi and make him suffer for harming her friend.

"Are you able to walk now, Miss Arisawa?" Kisuke asked. Tatsuki nodded, standing up and wobbling on her feet before steadying herself and walking with Kisuke and the rest of the group back to Urahara Shoten.

" _There_ you are! It took you guys long enough to get back!" Came a slightly obnoxious female voice from the kitchen. Ichigo jumped as Riruka came out with her trademark glare on her face.

"Hi, Dokugamine-san… How is school going?" Ichigo asked politely. Riruka raised an eyebrow, laughing now.

"Did you really think I would stick around with those quarter-wit children!? My first day of school, I was surrounded almost as soon as I got in the damn classroom with jejune, puerile girls asking me questions about what shampoo I used!

"Did you want me to go to school or did you want me to go to hell!?"

"I only hoped that maybe you could make some friends your own age… I know you and Inoue are friends, but…"

"I am _not_ friends with this bimbo!" Riruka snapped angrily.

"W-we… We're not friends?" Orihime asked, looking deeply hurt, making Riruka suddenly regret saying that they weren't friends.

"W-well… A-anyway, somehow that idiot Yukio found me and offered me a job at his company designing clothes! How many fifteen year olds can say they work as fashion designers?" Riruka asked with a very self-satisfied smirk.

"Really? You're working now!?" Orihime asked excitedly, apparently having forgotten that Riruka had just said they weren't friends. "That's great!"

"Yeah, yeah… That's great…" Riruka said, waving her hand dismissively. "Anyway, I felt a familiar spiritual pressure around here just earlier today.

"Then I ended up running into Tsukishima, and we came here together, thinking that the old pervert could give us some insight…" Riruka finished, feeling quite hurried.

"Tsukishima is here? Where?"

"I'm in here, Kurosaki…" Tsukishima said politely, turning down the heat on the stove, and walking out into plain sight.

"Oh, my… What happened to you, Miss Arisawa?" Tsukishima asked, looking concerned, and approaching Tatsuki, perhaps unwisely as in one moment, Tsukishima was walking up to Tatsuki, and in the next, he was lying on the floor with a broken and bleeding nose.

"Don't you come near me!" Tatsuki yelled, lowering her foot and curling her hands into fists, ready to fight again if she needed to.

"Tatsuki… Tsukishima is… Well… He's not really a friend, but I know him. He had no intention of hurting you… I think…" Ichigo said, though even he wasn't completely sure.

"S-sorry…" Tatsuki said nervously, reaching out and pulling Tsukishima to his feet.

"Wow… That was unexpected… I never knew you were so fast… But what happened to you? You look a mess… And you definitely had two eyes last time we met…" Tsukishima said, not realizing that Tatsuki didn't remember any of that.

"Seriously… I have absolutely _no_ patience for stalker freaks!" Tatsuki growled irately. "I dealt with one already today…"

"Sorry? We have met before… O-oh… Of course you don't remember. Kurosaki? Maybe you could help me out? I'm feeling distinctly unwelcome here…"

"Tatsuki was assaulted today by some freak named Tabito…"

"Megumi-kun?" Riruka asked, looking shocked now. The group looked up at her except for Tsukishima, who seemed to have been expecting that.

"Yeahhh… What do _you_ know about him…? Except for his girly name?" Tatsuki snapped.

"H-he used to be a friend of ours… It's a long and kind of embarrassing story…" Riruka muttered, blushing.

"Well, you better tell the damn story!" Tatsuki demanded angrily, getting more and more peeved with Riruka. How did she know Riruka? She was sure she had met her before… Oh yeah… Riruka was the girl she crashed into at school that day. Riruka had a pretty bad temper.

"Y-you see… Tsukishima and I used to be dating… I-it wasn't even all that long ago… Maybe a year and a half ago at most… It was right before Kurosaki came into the picture… Then Ginjo and Tsukishima came up with their bizarre plan to mess with their own memories to make a perfect plan to steal Ichigo's powers, and he broke up with me.

"That was when Megumi, who had been our friend for a few years came and asked me out. I rejected him… He's always been kind of a creepy bloke… He didn't take rejection well, and swore revenge on both of us. I don't know why he started raping women… Maybe he just has an inferiority complex… But anyway, that's about all there is to say."

"So… You and Tsukishima were…"

"Yeah… So? I don't know what Megumi is up to, but it can't be good. I could find him and kill him… But I really don't feel like seeing his face again… Besides… If even Miss Butch Lesbian here couldn't beat him in a fight, what chance do I have?"

"What!? What did you call me you stupid bitch!?" Tatsuki yelled, furious that Riruka was being so blatantly rude.

"Dokugamine-san… Could you please not antagonize my friends?" Ichigo asked, not really wanting to have to deal with a fight between two girls who could probably both be a match for him in his human form, even if not in his Shinigami form.

"Sorry. Working for Yukio's company is stressful… And I thought that school was hard work." Riruka snapped. She wasn't planning on quitting. Yukio would never let her hear the end of it. But it was harder than he made it seem. Being on a deadline to produce ideas made thinking of them more difficult.

"That is so cool, though!" Orihime said cheerfully, running over and hugging Riruka tightly. Riruka shoved Orihime off of her and told her rather vehemently not to touch her. She had always been slightly averse to being touched.

It made her uncomfortable. Whenever someone touched her, she was overcome with a strange tingling sensation that started to burn after a minute or two.

"Sorry… But what do you do for Yukio?"

"I told you! I-I'm a fashion designer… He wanted to expand into clothing, and apparently he thought I had good fashion sense… I must say, he has excellent taste."

"That's great! But… That's beyond the point! You need to help us find Megumi! He assaulted Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime protested. Riruka snorted at this suggested.

"Why should I? I don't ever want to see that idiot bastard Megumi again!"

Ichigo sighed. Was he _really_ going to have to do something this low? He would have never once considered messing with a girl's feelings in the past. It wasn't funny and it wasn't cool. He had asked for one favor in the past from Riruka, and that was for her to try her hand at school. She had failed at that, and he didn't hold it against her. He really had no reason to think that even he could get her to agree to deal with Megumi.

She was right. If even Tatsuki couldn't handle the bastard, why should Riruka be able to? It was true that Riruka had Fullbring, but he wasn't sure how prepared she'd be to use it against someone she didn't want to deal with in the first place.

"Please, Do… Riruka-san? Could you at least talk to Tabito and try to talk some sense into him? If you can't, perhaps Tsukishima-san could 'convince' him to confess his crimes."

"Well, Kurosaki… I could certainly try to use Book of the End to attempt to force some guilt on him. There's no guarantee that it would work. Book of the End generally inserts memories, not emotions. Emotions are often involved with the memories, but only because the human in whom I place the memories associate those emotions with the memory.

"For instance, if I were to stab Tatsuki with Book of the End and insert myself as her lover, she would associate love with my memory because that is what she associates with the status of being someone's lover. That does not mean that she actually loves me, only that she believes that she does.

"Furthermore, I cannot insert other people into a person's past… I can only insert myself into the past of something that my sword cuts. It is actually far more limited than you seem to think. I admit that I can probably defeat him fairly easily if I cut him even once.

"That would allow me to insert myself into his past and learn all of his abilities and the perfect counter to said abilities. However, I would have trouble convincing him to truly feel remorse over committing the crimes he has committed. That would require that he have a conscience, and I don't know that he does."

"Well, a-anything you can do, Mr. Tsukishima would be appreciated…" Orihime said, hugging Tatsuki close to her.

Riruka blushed. She knew that she would never take Rukia's place in Ichigo's heart, and that he would never love her, especially since they would probably not see each other again for a long time, and when they did, she would be an old lady and he would be the same.

But she couldn't deny him his irritating requests. Seeing Megumi again was frankly the last thing she wanted. He was an annoying person, and had hit on her relentlessly when they were 'friends'. He was a real creep. Because of this, Tsukishima had been forced to threaten him and cut ties with him. Megumi knew full well at the time that Tsukishima, a true prodigy in every sense of the word and a tactical genius could defeat him in battle in three blows with one hand.

Neither Tsukishima nor Riruka knew how far Megumi had improved in the years that they had been separated, but Tsukishima was still fairly certain that he could defeat him in a fair fight.

"Fine… I-I'll help you… Shukuro will as well… Won't you?" Riruka asked. Tsukishima sighed and

nodded.

"Of course, Riruka-chan…"

"I've told you to stop calling me that! Damnit! We broke up over a year ago!"

"Sorry… Old habits die hard…" Tsukishima said sadly. Privately, he still hoped that they could get back together. He still loved her, though he knew that she had a strong attraction to Ichigo. Maybe after Ichigo went back to Soul Society, he would have a chance.

"Kurosaki? Might I speak with you outside for a moment? I promise I won't try anything. I'll leave my Book of the End in here if you like…"

"No need. I don't fully trust you, but I know you couldn't hurt me if you wanted to…" Ichigo said confidently, walking out with Tsukishima into the dark yard outside of Urahara Shoten.

"So what's the deal? I'm tired and would like to get to bed. We haven't got long in the human world, so we need to handle the situation and get out." Ichigo said, not wanting to stay longer than he needed to. He didn't want to run into too many of his old friends in the Human World. It wasn't that he didn't want to see them. It was that he knew that if he saw them, he would have trouble leaving. He was just going to do his job and get going… No debate…

"No time to rest, then… Besides, if I know Megumi, and I'm pretty sure I do, he's careful enough that he'll be getting ready to move again. He won't stay in one place for long, and his overinflated ego now will encourage him to spread his genes as far and wide as he can.

"Tetsuki was a fluke. It just so happened that he recognized her from television and wanted her…" Riruka said. "I feel fairly sure that he doesn't know with any level of personal attachment any of the other women he's raped. Frankly, if he hadn't come to Karakura Town, I never would've known about him and never would've cared. Let's go."

Ichigo felt around the city, searching for Megumi's spiritual presence. It was true that he could be hiding it, but Ichigo was fairly certain that even if it was weak, he could find it. Rukia was better at these things, so she was searching as well. They had left Tatsuki and Orihime back at the shop, although they both wanted to come.

"I feel his presence, Ichigo. He's actually pretty close… He should be… About three blocks away…" Rukia said…"

"What presence are _you_ feeling?" Riruka asked, scoffing at Rukia. "He's two blocks in the _other direction_ … There may be a spiritual pressure in that direction, but it ain't his…"

"But…"

"Listen sweetie… I think I know Megumi's spiritual signature. Just follow me… And hurry." Riruka said, running left, forcing Rukia, Tsukishima and Ichigo to break into a run after her. After about five minutes of running, they arrived at a run down apartment. At that moment, they saw Megumi walking out with a small pack of things on his back.

He looked at them once and smirked before thrusting his hands out and releasing a blast of telekinetic force in their direction, nearly knocking them over. He then ran in the opposite direction, augmenting his stride both with Fullbring and with telekinesis.

Ichigo was sufficiently fleet of foot, though, to keep up with him, and finally, he used a low level Bakudo to bind him, causing Megumi to crash to the ground. Ichigo then walked up to Megumi and looked down at him.

"I'm feeling a bit conflicted… As a former human, I should turn you into the human authorities. As a Shinigami, though, you have to pay your debt to Soul Society…"

"You don't scare me, friend… You can't beat me. If you kill me, I'll just come back as a Hollow. It'll take a while… Maybe even hundreds of years, but I'll devour more Hollows, turn into a free willed Menos and evolve to the point that I become a Vasto Lorde and then I'll remove my mask and come back to get revenge on you."

"Answer my questions! How did you get these psychic powers?"

"Oh… You mean like this?" Megumi asked, grabbing Ichigo's arm and burning it with pyrokinesis, jumping up and shooting several fireballs at Ichigo, who blocked each of them, then used a higher level Bakudo to stop him. Ichigo admitted that he wasn't talented with Kido, but he was getting better.

"You truly are a worthy opponent… Ah… And I see that Riru-chan and Shuu-kun are here with you…"

"Don't call me Riru-chan, you pervy freak!" Riruka yelled furiously. "I am _not_ your friend!"

"Ouch… That hurt… I understand that it's hard for you to admit your feelings, but you shouldn't deny that you're attracted to me… Dump Shuu-kun and come be with me instead…"

"I'm not dating Shukuro either anymore… We broke up a while ago… Besides… The only thing I would want to do with you is turn you into a eunuch so you can't cause trouble anymore. Ichigo, I don't know what he did to give himself those weird psychic powers, but you can't turn him into the police. Bring him back to Soul Society. Normally, I'd deal with him, but I don't wanna risk touching his filthy, pervy body…" Riruka said disdainfully. Megumi looked hurt at this.

"But… I-I loved you, Riruka-chan…" He said helplessly as Ichigo put him into spirit binding ropes.

"No you didn't. You lusted after me and you were jealous of what Shukuro had. Love and lust and jealousy aren't the same thing. Now you rape women to get back at me for rejecting you.

"You're pathetic…"

"Th-the glasses look nice on you… You never liked glasses. Even though you were badly nearsighted, you didn't get glasses because you didn't want to look nerdy, but the glasses look good on you…"

Hearing this, Riruka found herself slightly touched and surprised. She didn't think that Megumi of all people would remember all that about her. Maybe his interest in her had been more than just lust.

"Th-thanks…" Riruka said.

"Well… Take me away, I guess…" Megumi said, looking truly beaten, now. Although he had few wounds on him,

"Captain Kurosaki…" Rukia whispered. Ichigo scowled. Even if they were technically on business, it was kind of over the top to call him 'Captain Kurosaki'. Their relationship wasn't exactly a secret, and they had started dating before he became a captain.

It was really only Byakuya who saw anything wrong with them behaving familiarly while on the job. Ichigo admitted that a certain level of professionalism was important to maintain the proper level of distance while they were working. But they were in the Human world, now.

"Rukia… Just call me Ichigo… We may be on the job. I may be a captain, but we're still dating."

"Is that a request from my boyfriend or a command from a captain?" Rukia asked, looking completely serious.

"I-it's only a request… You know I wouldn't pull rank on you… Gimme a little more credit than that…"

"Um… As touching as this conversation is, perhaps you should just take me into custody." Megumi said.

"Actually, we got a revised order while we were at Urahara Shoten… Or I did, anyway." Rukia said. "Kill the one known as Tabito Megumi. There is no reason to keep him in Soul Society."

"W-we have to kill him!? I couldn't do that!"

"I could." Riruka said quickly, stepping forward. Tsukishima stopped her, though, and stepped forward himself, taking the bookmark out of his book.

Now, he was reading Defining Existence: An Exercise in Metaphysics

"I will, of course give you the ability to fight me to preserve your own life. Perhaps we should go to a more secluded area?" Tsukishima asked, bowing politely, waving his bookmark in front of the group.

Once they had gotten to a completely abandoned section of town, Tsukishima took out his Book of the End, and waved it to show that he was not using the memory altering function of it. Megumi looked hesitant to begin fighting.

However, he got into a fighting stance.

"Do not hesitate, Tabito-kun… There is no reason for you to feel obliged to hold back. Take out your Fullbring. I'm sure you have it on you. You used it on Miss Arisawa, didn't you?"

"To a degree I used it on Tatsuki… I didn't actually use the weapon itself. If I had, she would have bled to death just from the wound to her face. As it is, I'm pretty sure that the guy with the strange hat was able to at least mitigate the damage I did."

"I wondered why Inoue wasn't able to fix Tatsuki's eye… It must be a function of Tabito's Fullbring. Ichigo, stand by and be ready to take over the battle if Tsukishima loses. If he loses, he will almost certainly die. But we cannot hesitate to carry out Soul Society's orders.

"Riruka was allowed to live because you vouched for her. A few others may have survived, and Tsukishima was thought dead. This one has no excuse. We must execute him with extreme prejudice…" Rukia said firmly. Ichigo nodded. Although he was a captain and she was just a lieutenant, he had no intention of going against her. He had seen only once the power of her Bankai, and he was pretty sure he would be fucked if he had to go up against it.

"I am sorry to have to fight the man who taught me everything I know and the boyfriend of the woman I love. I deeply apologize for my actions both past and present. However, now that I see a chance to live…" Megumi said, disappearing in a startling flash and appearing right before Tsukishima.

Briefly, Tsukishima changed his Book of the End to Memory Form and clashed with Megumi's knife. He had never clashed with it before, as Megumi had never trusted him enough to allow it. Megumi had always been a fairly suspicious person, always on the lookout for betrayal. Now, Tsukishima knew everything about Megumi's Fullbring, Sanguinus Maximus…

Tsukishima commented to himself that it wasn't a terribly imaginative name. But he changed his sword back to Cut and slashed at Megumi, leaving a light cut across Megumi's chest. Megumi, surprised that the sword was so sharp that it was able to cut through his telekinetic armor that he had put on himself, stumbled backwards. Meanwhile, Tsukishima had planned to gut Megumi with that slash, so he didn't understand how it didn't work.

"Tsukishima-san! Tabito…"

"There is no need to tell me, Kurosaki. I can find out for myself…" Tsukishima said confidently, moving forward with barely a flicker and slashing at Megumi once he was at close range, and using Memory, once more barely breaching the telekinetic armor and this time not leaving so much as a scratch. Thus, he didn't gain the benefit of extra information about Megumi's other powers.

This time, Tsukishima, pulled back and once more plunged forward, this time getting Sanguinus Maximus in his side. It was a fairly shallow wound, but it bled a good amount. He was sure that he could get it fixed up later. Despite the injury that he took, though, he had used both hands and pierced the telekinetic armor much to Megumi's shock.

Megumi had never known just how sharp Tsukishima's sword was. He had said that his sword was extraordinarily keen. Tsukishima had claimed on more than one occasion that Book of the End could literally cut anything. However, Megumi never believed him, and though Tsukishima had just proved that there was more truth to the claim than Megumi initially believed, it could not truly cut through anything as it had taken several tries to cut through his telekinetic armor.

However, Megumi knew that like his reiatsu, he could not expend psychic energy indefinitely. He had maybe ten or fifteen minutes left assuming there weren't abnormal fluctuations in the armor due to unforeseen circumstances. If he could keep Tsukishima from cutting him again, he could conserve power pretty well.

If not, well, he would first experience severe headaches, dizziness, nausea and nosebleeds, then he would likely pass out as if from a concussion. Of course, if he failed to protect his body from the sword enough times for energy conservation to matter, he probably would die before he passed out. The truth was that Megumi was nowhere near as graceful or as talented at fighting as Tsukishima.

Tsukishima had had years of training in swordfighting not only from Kugo Ginjo (whom Megumi hated with a passion), but had also taken Iaido, Kendo and Kenjutsu. He had excelled at all three and he would be rightly feared in any battle for his brilliance. So distracted, Megumi had been though by this musing that he forgot about the current battle, and before he knew it, he had been cut across the chest rather severely by Book of the End. Megumi gasped as blood spurted from his wound.

Megumi staggered back and gripped his knife tighter, activating its special ability that made it vibrate so that it would exacerbate further any wound it caused, making it bleed even more. This time, he was no longer frightened. He knew that Tsukishima would be off his guard now that he had already gotten in a major blow.

So Megumi plunged forward, moving to stab Tsukishima in the side with his Sanguinus Maximus, but missed because Tsukishima, knowing already Megumi's tactics dodged him rather easily and slashed along his back cutting his spine right where above his tailbone so that Megumi fell to the ground, no longer able to walk. Tsukishima then walked over to Megumi and kicked him once to ensure that he was still awake.

"You lose. It brings me no joy to do this. I must kill you, though. As your friend, I can't allow you to continue on your rampage."

"Please… You were never my friend! You never trusted me and you started going out with Riru-chan just to spite me!"

"No. I was your friend and I did trust you. I went out with Riruka because I liked her and because she agreed that she liked me as well. There was a mutual attraction. I'm sorry to have to do this, but… Goodbye…" Tsukishima said quietly, stabbing Megumi with Book of the End in the heart, ending his life.

"It's a shame. But, please tell me that you don't hold this against me, Riruka…"

"Of course not. He deserved worse. You should've tortured him a bit." Riruka said with a smirk.

"That wouldn't have helped anything. Perhaps you would be amenable to spending time with me again tomorrow?

"We can invite Kurosaki and Kuchiki if you don't wish to spend it alone with me…" Tsukishima said, making it obvious that he still liked Riruka.

"I guess so. What can it hurt? Ichigo? Will you join us? Kuchiki, you don't need to come if you don't want to." Riruka said, ending her statement dismissively.

"Wow… Way to make me feel welcome… But no. We do have to get back to Soul Society. If you could tell our friends that we hope Tatsuki gets better soon and not to give in to despair…" Rukia said confidently, taking out her sword and stabbing the air in front of her, forming a portal back to Seireitei."

"Bye, Ichigo… Bye Kuchiki…" Riruka said. Ichigo started as Rukia stopped him.

"We were instructed by Captain Kurotsuchi to bring the body back with us so that he could perform an autopsy." Ichigo groaned. He really didn't like Kurotsuchi. He had only met him on a few occasions, and each time the man made Ichigo's flesh crawl like there were insects under it.

"I have to say, Rukia-chan… Killing Hollows is one thing. But killing humans just isn't easy…" Ichigo said, sighing unhappily. He knew that he didn't actually kill Megumi, and that made him feel a little bit better. As they walked through the entrance to Soul Society, they were immediately greeted by Byakuya. He looked down at Ichigo and Rukia dispassionately.

"I was asked by the Captain-Commander to come greet you. How did your mission go? Was it a success?" He asked, his steely gaze never changing.

"Yes. We assassinated the one known as Megumi Tabito and have taken into account his powers.

"He seemed to possess both a Fullbring, gained before Xcution was even formed and psychic powers to the effect of telekinesis. How he gained the psychic powers, I don't know, but we should catalogue them for the future."

"Good. Go immediately to Captain Kurotsuchi and give him the body. Don't dawdle. I'll give the report to the Captain-Commander." Rukia said, kissing Ichigo quickly before running off. Ichigo sighed and walked off, still not entirely sure where he was going. At least, he thought, he was better at directions than Zaraki, who seemed to get lost at every opportunity.

He hurried through the Seireitei, occasionally stopping to ask directions, finding that he was taking the _very_ long route to 12th Division. As he finally got to the 12th Division and Shinigami Research Institute, walking in and looking around, seeing a number of Shinigami typing away at computers, and running tests over and over again to make sure of their results.

"Excuse me… I'm look…"

"Captain Kurosaki?" Came a dull, lifeless voice from the background, and a young woman that Ichigo recognized as Nemu came out of the gloom.

"You are here to deliver the body to us? Thank you. Father is…"

"Nemu! Who's there!? What does he want!?"

"Father… It is Captain Kurosaki with the body." Nemu said, bowing politely. Kurotsuchi walked over and kicked Nemu out of the way, kicking her once when she was lying on the ground in irritation, then turned to Ichigo.

"Ah, yes… Captain Kurosaki… I've wanted to dissect a Fullbringer ever since I found out about their unusual powers. Unfortunately, the captains and lieutenants either killed and destroyed or let go the only Fullbringers that we've run into.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity… Though…" Kurotsuchi said, leaning in conspiratorially. "I've heard that you have a lovely young magenta haired lady friend who's also a Fullbringer… I'd be glad to compensate you if you bring her to me alive… And when I'm done experimenting, if she's still alive, I'll return her to you good as new."

"First of all… She's not my 'lady friend'…" Ichigo said distastefully. "Second, if you so much as lay a hand on her, you'll be eating all your future meals through a tube…"

"Is that supposed to be a threat, Captain? I eat half my meals through a tube, anyhow. I'm normally far too busy to spare time for meals, so I have nutrient based supplements that I pump directly into my body instead. Get up, Nemu! Take this damn body back to the lab!" Kurotsuchi screeched with incredible venom, kicking Nemu in the side several times. Ichigo ran and grabbed Kurotsuchi pulling him away from Nemu.

"Leave her alone! Do you always treat her like this!?" Ichigo asked, appalled at the treatment Nemu received at the hands of her own captain.

"Why shouldn't I!? I made her! She's my clone! My own flesh and blood! I have the right to do whatever I want to her!"

"No you don't! You…"

"Get out! I have to get back to work! I don't have time to debate the finer points of a captain's relationship with his lieutenant!" Kurotsuchi yelled, pointing to the door. Ichigo ignored him and walked over to Nemu, helping her get up.

"Are you alright, Nemu?" Ichigo asked. Nemu turned slightly pink and simply nodded, walking away.

"Good! Now get out!" Kurotsuchi shrieked. Ichigo sighed. This was the thanks he got for bringing the body to Division Twelve? Some thanks. But tomorrow was Saturday, for whatever that meant.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Kensei grumbled… Lately he had been having strange thoughts about a certain lime haired lieutenant.

 _No, no, no, no, no, no, no!_ _She's my fucking lieutenant! She's an idiot and she's been my lieutenant for God only knows how long!_

 _I can't love her! It's not fair! Any woman in the world I could've fallen in love with and I choose that loon!? But she's so beautiful, and… NO! Get her out of your head, Kensei! Get her out of your goddamn head, K…._

"Kenseeeeeeeeiiiii!" Came a loud and obnoxious voice… But it was the most beautiful voice in the world… If he could just kiss her lips once, he was sure that he would never have to be bothered with such errant thoughts again… No. If he kissed her once, he wouldn't be able to stop kissing her. He would have to make her promise to be his forever.

"NO! That is so wrong!"

"Kensei? Are you alright? You seem… Different today…" Mashiro said quietly, tilting her head to the right, then to the left. Kensei turned away from her belligerently, sneering at her all the while.

"Did Kensei get rejected by a woman? Here… Let Mashiro make it all better…" Mashiro said, hugging Kensei tightly and kissing him on the cheek. That was very much the wrong move for her to make, because suddenly, she found herself forced up against the wall her body flush against Kensei's with her captain staring helplessly into her eyes.

"Eyes that beautiful should be a fucking crime, Mashiro! It should be fucking punishable by law for any one woman to be so beautiful and so goddamn adorable!" Kensei raved, hardly able to contain himself any longer.

Mashiro was hardly ever scared. But seeing Kensei losing control like this was slightly frightening, and, she was slightly ashamed to say, a bit arousing. She had never seen him lose control of himself like that. And she wasn't sure that she didn't like it. After a moment, he pushed down harder on her shoulder, making her lose all sensation in her right arm, leaving it to fall limply to her side and he pressed himself up tighter to her and kissed her on the lips.

He was sure when this started that she would fight at least a little bit, and he could feel her squirming under him. But her eyes were closed, and her one good arm was wrapped around him, holding him closer. When he pulled away, Mashiro blushed and looked down.

"K-Kensei… M-Mashiro didn't know you felt… Like that about her. Y-you should've just told her. M-Mashiro would do anything for Kensei-kun…" She muttered, turning a deeper and deeper crimson by the moment. Kensei also blushed.

He never thought that Mashiro could possibly be so adorable and even submissive. She had always truly been a dizzy dreamer and a wanderer. It was amazing even that she was able to become a Shinigami, let alone a lieutenant…

Why had he chosen her as his lieutenant? It had been so long since he first became a captain… He certainly remembered regretting at times that he had chosen Mashiro. She was strong, but easily distracted, impossible to keep focused. It didn't matter now, so whatever. He kissed her again, still holding her against the wall, albeit more gently now, holding her firmly in his arms.

It was at this moment that some of the squad members came in.

"Cap… O-oh… Our apologies… We'll come back later…" One of them said. Kensei panicked for a moment, but then let go of Mashiro and turned around.

"No. What is it? It would've been polite to knock…"

"We… Were knocking. For five minutes. Anyway, there's an issue in Inuzuri… Captain-Commander Kyoraku has said that you and a few others should go and investigate. There's a team waiting outside the First Division Barracks."

"Okay… Thank you." Kensei said. He then waited for the two to leave. Then he walked out himself, leaving Mashiro feeling very unfulfilled. Mashiro moaned both in arousal and in dissatisfaction and grabbed a shirt from Kensei's floor and ran back to her own room.

"Nng… Kensei-kun… Y-you could've at least finished with me…" Mashiro moaned as she viciously dug into her pussy all while smelling Kensei's shirt. His scent was intoxicating and Mashiro couldn't get enough. She needed more. She had already cummed three times, but it still wasn't enough.

She needed more. She needed Kensei. Why couldn't she just have asked him to stay a little longer? It wasn't fair. She had wanted to be with him for over a century and now when he finally started looking at her like she did at him, he was pulled off on a mission. She only hoped that Kensei was just as bad off as she was.

"Oh, Kurosaki-san… It's good to see you again." The two guards said, standing up politely. Karin scowled and looked away from them.

"Please just call me Karin… Just cuz I'm Ichi-nii's sister doesn't mean you hafta treat me any differently. I'm not even out of the Academy. I'm just here to train with Lieutenant Kuna…" Karin muttered. The two men nodded.

"Well… I would guess she's in her room right now. You can go ask her if you like. Her room is right down the hall and to the left…" The man on the left said. Karin nodded and walked into the barracks, knocking on the door.

When she didn't get an answer, she opened it and walked in and was shocked to find Mashiro completely naked and masturbating rather furiously, screaming her captain's name. Karin couldn't help but growl at this. Not only had she not needed to see that, she really wasn't in the mood for Mashiro's shenanigans. She began to walk out, but Mashiro called out for her to stop.

"Wait! Rinchin! C-can you please help Mashiro finish…? She knows…"

"I'm outta here…" Karin said, a deep scowl on her face. "I'll just come back when you're fully clothed and not satisfying yourself…" Karin grumbled. Mashiro hurried to get her clothes back on and grabbed Karin's arm.

"C'mon Rinchin! You know how it feels to be in love! You're in love with your Ichi-nii… It's not that different from me being in love with Kensei… Y-you came to train with me, right? Ju-just let Mashiro catch her breath." Mashiro gasped, putting a hand on her chest and slowly standing up and sighing in what was about as close to relief as she was going to feel that day.

"Geez, Lieutenant Kuna… Just what happened that would make you like this!?"

Mashiro blushed and shook her head wildly.

"Mashiro can't tell Rinchin! Just get into a fighting stance…" the lime haired lieutenant said fiercely, leaping into action, cartwheeling once, then thrusting herself into the air and landing on her hands, and doing a hurricane attack on Karin, who blocked as best she could, but found that she was quickly being pushed back. She refused to ask Mashiro to be a little easier on her, though.

If she was ever going to reach the level that her Ichi-nii had reached in less than a year, she would have to train as hard as she could for as many hours as she could. If she missed meals, fine. If she missed sleep, fine. Nothing would stop her from being as good as her brother.

"Rinchin is still such a noob!" Mashiro exclaimed cheerfully, turning into another cartwheel, then leaping into a flip and dropkicking Karin, who grabbed Mashiro's ankle and flipped her over her back and slammed her on the floor of the training room. Mashiro stood, cracked her back and neck and smiled brightly at Karin.

"Wow… You're pretty good, Rinchin… It's hard to believe you barely started your first year!"

"Well… I was decent at fighting even before I came to Seireitei… Ichi-nii taught me. I-I've never been as good as Ichi-nii… I was always better at soccer…"

"Soccer? Mashiro isn't familiar with Soccer. Is it like Capoeira? Or maybe it's more like Krav Maga?"

"I've learned both, and Soccer is neither!" Karin snapped, taking out her bag and removing a ball from it.

"This… Is a Soccer ball. It's often called football in every country but America which has another sport called football in which the ball is hardly ever kicked… Don't ask. The sport has two teams of eleven players on a pitch of between 100 and 110 meters. The goal of the game is to kick the ball into the opponent's goal, which is guarded by what's known as a goalie.

"Each goal is one point and a game lasts one and a half hour with a fifteen minute interlude between forty-five minute halves."

"Wow… Rinchin knows a lot about Soccer… A 110 meter field seems pretty big for a little girl like Rinchin, though. That's a lot of field…"

"Well… I could organize a game someday… Toshiro knows a little bit about Soccer. He played a game with my friends and me."

"Oh, right! Captain Hitsugaya is Rinchin's boyfriend… Rinchin seems to have his heart in her hand… You are very cute… Mashiro isn't surprised that he likes you."

"Toshiro is not my boyfriend! There's only one man for me!"

"Right… Rinchin's Ichi-nii… Guard up!" Mashiro shouted, suddenly going at Karin with a barrage of punches before twisting around on her extraordinarily limber body and kicking, making herself look more like putty than flesh and bone.

Karin was amazed at how flexible and supple Mashiro was, and Karin had to be just as good. She wasn't sure that she would ever have quite the same fighting style, but she knew that flexibility was good for her, and that it would help her in many situations.

"Hey, Lieutenant Kuna…"

"Just Mashiro!" Mashiro chirped before throwing a kick so fast that her leg blurred in the air and Karin was hit hard in the head and sent flying into the back wall.

This all happened just as Ichigo walked into the training room. Karin groaned and stood, feeling horribly dizzy. Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. She was suddenly feeling ill. Mashiro ran over to Karin and put a hand on Karin's back.

"Rinchin! Are you alright! Mashiro didn't mean to kick you so hard! She thought you would block her kick!"

"Stand back, Kuna-san… Karin is tough… She just needs to sleep…"

"No! Mashiro's kicks have been known to crush Menos' skulls! You need to take Rinchin to the Fourth Division!"

"I'll get her there ASAP!" Ichigo said. Mashiro looked at him oddly.

"Asap? What's that mean?"

"As soon as possible. See you later, lieutenant Kuna…" Ichigo said, running off with Karin.

 _Damn… I know she's my empty headed lieutenant, but I was so close to doing it with her… I wonder what's going on that we were called out so suddenly…_

"Captain!" Came the voice of one of the other people on the mission.

"Y-yes!"

"What should we do?" He asked. Kensei shook his head and took a deep breath.

"We need to question the locals. Maybe we can get some information about the threat level. Kaoru, Yuki, Ren… You go that way. Rina, Izumi, Mariko… Go that way. I'll take Minato and Katsu and go that way. Break!" Kensei said. The Shinigami bowed and began questioning the locals. Altogether, they got a dozen different versions of the same story, no doubt due to most people having heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend.

However, eventually, they pieced together that there was someone out there with strange powers that didn't resemble Shinigami powers, but from what they gathered, it also wasn't Fullbring, Hollow powers or Quincy powers.

That would make things difficult. If there was no way to determine the source of the powers or the nature of them, it would be terribly difficult to counter them. Fortunately, Rin and Nemu suddenly walked up to the group. Rin was gasping for breath, obviously having overexerted himself. Nemu on the other hand looked fine. Nemu bowed to the group and spoke.

"Captain Kurotsuchi has finished analyzing the body of the criminal that Captain Kurosaki and Lieutenant Kuchiki killed. His powers were psychic in nature. They were utilized through excess electrical impulses in his brain, and he was able to harness the electricity and create a force effect known as telekinesis. The effect is not all powerful, though.

"His ability to do so was dependent on the fact that he could employ over 60% of his brain's full capacity. It also may have been aided by his Fullbring, but due to the fact that the two cannot be fully separated, we cannot tell for sure if that is the case.

"Captain Kurotsuchi has been monitoring this area of Rukongai and has determined that the criminal has a similar ability to the criminal from the Human world if not exactly the same ability. Perhaps they had these powers before they died and retained them upon entering Rukongai. Regardless, these powers are unfamiliar and must be treated with respect."

Ichigo sighed and opened his eyes, coming slowly out of meditation. He had to admit that it was relaxing to meditate, and it did help him feel more in touch with his Zanpakuto, as well as with his Hollow and Quincy powers. He had been training his Quincy powers and his Hollow powers as well.

After losing his powers, he also lost his Hollow mask, but he could still feel it deep inside him, and recently, he began to be able to manifest it again. He was also gaining better control of his Quincy abilities, namely Blut Vene and Blut Arterie, both of which he could control to some degree, now, though he was still better at Blut Vene, which was the first ability he had learned.

As he opened his eyes and took a deep breath, he noticed Rukia sitting on the couch. She had entered completely silently, and had slipped in, even under his spiritual sense. She must have even masked her scent and her breathing, both of which he would have instantly recognized.

"Hey, Rukia-chan… Good to see you again… How's it going?" Ichigo asked with a smile, standing and going over to Rukia, kissing her.

Rukia had noticed that Ichigo had become much friendlier since they started going out. Though he still had very little tact, it was fortunate that he had become at least a little bit more open.

"I'm doing pretty well. It's good to see you too… Ichigo… You know, it's been three months today since we first started dating. We should do something…"

"That sounds like fun. What did you have planned?" Ichigo asked, being as dense as ever.

"Well… We could go to an opera. The Seireitei Performing Arts Center is always fun. You might see something that will surprise you… In fact, we'd better get going if we want to get there on time." Rukia said, grabbing Ichigo's arm and pulling him out the door. Ichigo only barely had time to get his sandals on before he was dragged out the door.

Rukia broke into Flash Step, forcing Ichigo to do likewise. Fortunately, they reached the Performing Arts Center quickly, and Rukia handed Ichigo the tickets.

"Here. Save our seats and I'll be with you as soon as I can. I have to take care of something." She said forcefully, pushing him into the theater. Ichigo grumbled, but walked to their seats and sat down.

It was good that they had gotten there so quickly, because soon the lights went out and the stage light went on and a Shinigami that Ichigo didn't recognize came on the stage.

"Once upon a time, there was a queen named Queen Orasia of Thrace who was deeply in love with the prophet, Orpheus. However, Orpheus rejected her for the beautiful Eurydice, daughter of Apollo. The queen could not accept this and planned to murder Eurydice by poisoning her. This is the story."

The curtain then opened and the unknown Shinigami quietly walked off stage. Suddenly, Ichigo realized why Rukia had really brought him there. Rukia was on stage as Queen Orasia, singing in immaculate German. He had never known that Rukia had such a beautiful voice. She was truly transcendent in her talent. He had seen an opera only once in his life, and he hadn't thought much of it. This was no exception, but so impressed was he by Rukia's singing that he was wide awake.

"Rukia's got a really beautiful voice, doesn't she?" Karin whispered to Ichigo, who started and looked over at Karin.

"W-when did you get here!?" Ichigo whispered.

"Since when have you not been able to sense my presence? Shut up and watch the opera. Rukia really thought hard about this."

Ichigo stopped talking and watched the opera. The music and the costumes were beautiful, and though he had never been a fan of operas, he was mystified by Rukia's beautiful voice. He had never thought that such a small person could have such a powerful voice. Whoever said that a person had to be obese to sing opera was full of shit.

After the opera was over, Ichigo and Karin went backstage to see Rukia, who was in the changing room. They waited outside until she was done and came out.

"Did you enjoy the performance? I've been performing for years, even before I met you."

"It was really amazing, Rukia-chan… I never knew you were so talented at singing." Ichigo said. Rukia smiled. She was really happy that Ichigo got to see her perform. She had wanted to perform for him ever since they parted ways after he lost his powers and she realized just how much she loved him.

 _Was it because we had to part ways that I realized that I loved him? I could never tell him before how I felt… Maybe I fell in love with him because of our parting._

"You okay, Rukia? Guess I'll have to start calling you Onee-chan soon… Won't I?" Karin asked with a good natured laugh. Rukia laughed too and shook her head.

"No. Just keep calling me Rukia… You and Yuzu are like sisters to me… But I couldn't possibly have you calling me Onee-chan…"

"Okay… So what… Crap…" Ichigo snapped, putting his finger out and taking the Hell Butterfly.

"Damnit… I was having fun… I have to go. There's a mission in some place called Inuzuri…"

"Inuzuri!? Let me come with you, Ichigo! I-I… That's my home district. I lived there before I was adopted by Nii-sama…"

"Great… Maybe you could take me there? I'd be completely lost otherwise."

Rukia groaned at this. This was something she didn't know about Ichigo. She always assumed that he had a good sense of direction. He had found his way around Seireitei the first time he came. He couldn't be as bad as Kenpachi was, though.

"Sure… Do you want me to join you? Usually, if a captain asks, he can take a lieutenant or lower level Shinigami with them."

"I-I normally would, but…"

"But what!? You are afraid of me getting hurt, aren't you? Fool! I'm a lieutenant in the Gotei Thirteen! I was willing to lay my life on the line from the day I joined!

"You're doing the same! Don't patronize me! If you don't want me to join you, say so, but don't treat me like a child!"

"Yeesh! Fine! I'm glad to have you with me. I heard you obtained Bankai. I'm eager to see it someday."

"Well, hopefully you won't ever have to see it. My ability is very dangerous, and can kill me if I'm not careful… I wouldn't wish to risk destroying myself. I'm working at the moment with Captain Hitsugaya when he has time on my Bankai.

"It wouldn't pay to be too close to the epicenter if you don't have protection. I'd honestly recommend against it. Captain Hitsugaya can control his Bankai extraordinarily well for someone as young as he. I on the other hand cannot. But let's hurry. We don't want to be late to whatever is going on in Inuzuri. Besides, I wonder if I would recognize anyone still from a century ago."

"Well, given the rate people age in Soul Society, I can't imagine they've changed much."

"You misunderstand. Spiritually active souls age at a slower rate than common Rukongai dwellers… I know, it isn't fair, but it's due to the increased spiritual density of awakened souls." Rukia said, picking up speed, seeming to silently expect Ichigo to follow suit, which he did.

"Souls can be split into four categories… Unawakened souls, such as the run-of-the-mill souls you see in Rukongai. There are Awakened Souls, such as Shinigami, Quincies, spiritually aware humans, and Fullbringers, Shinigami/Hollow Hybrids, and Hollows. Unawakened Souls age slower than humans… Much slower, in fact, to the point that they might seem immortal to a human whose life is measured in mere decades.

"Awakened Souls, such as those of Shinigami, Quincies, spiritually aware humans and Fullbringers age even slower, though a Quincy's or a Fullbringer's body typically ages at the normal rate for a human… The only thing is that the souls of Quincies cannot go on to become Shinigami, and they lose their spiritual powers upon death, so they can really be seen only as unawakened souls that age slower than most.

"Fullbringers also age as normal humans, although perhaps due to the Hollow power that they possess, they might possess a slightly longer lifespan in addition to the often predatory nature that seems to come to all of them… Forgive me… I've wandered.

"Faster… Run faster, Ichigo. Shinigami/Hollow Hybrids, such as the Vizard age even slower than typical Shinigami to the point that the Vizards you know seem not to have aged a day in the hundred years since they first left Soul Society. They do age, as Captain Kurotsuchi has done some mild and uninvasive tests on them and says that they continue to age, but that their aging is so slow that it is almost unnoticeable.

"Then there are Vizards like the former captain, Captain Tossen. It's obviously unclear whether Hollowfication via the Hogyoku is any different from Hollowfication via the experiments that Aizen ran. However, Tossen's Hollowfication seemed more complete to the point that he could even perform the Hollow Ressureccion. But again, I seem to be off topic.

"The fourth type is Hollows. They don't age, and even when they become Arrancar, they show no additional signs of aging save for any that may have already affected them when they died. Does that clear things up for you, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, showing him the picture one more time. Ichigo, however pushed the picture out of his face and scowled at Rukia.

"I'm going to buy you a how to draw book for your birthday, Rukia…"

"Hey! My drawings are just fine!" Rukia protested.

"Just pay attention. I don't know the way to Inuzuri."

"As a captain, you should know your way around Soul Society!

"Even the lowliest officer of the Gotei Thirteen knows their way around the Seireitei and Rukongai.

"I'm brand new in Soul Society! It stands to reason that I wouldn't know where I'm going…"

"Turn left here, Ichigo." Rukia said sharply. Ichigo turned with Rukia, continuing to follow her.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki and Captain Kurosaki reporting for duty. What's the issue here?"

"Captain! We've already lost five Shinigami to this enemy. Three of them were ranked Fifth Seat or higher! We need to run reconnaissance on the enemy, but every time we get close, the team is lost. By this fact, we feel we can safely surmise that the enemy is a powerful entity with reiatsu sensing abilities.

We feel that we can also surmise that whatever its abilities are, that they are completely different from any ability that a Shinigami might have. Since we have found that sending Shinigami after it has failed, we hope that sending a Shinigami/Quincy/Hollow Hybrid might succeed, sir."

"I get it. You want to use me as a test subject. Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming. I'll do it. Ru… Lieutenant Kuchiki…" Ichigo grumbled, correcting himself on how he called Rukia. "I know I can't force you to stay behind, but I'd like someone a little more intelligent and tactical than myself to stay here in case this plan fails and we need to come up with a new plan.

"Kurotsuchi gave me this stupid looking thing that I can wear and give another one to another officer and relay verbal, visual and reiatsu based information on the enemy. He claims that it isn't perfect, and that the farther away the two Shinigami are, the more reiatsu it eats to relay the information. So I asked him to make it so that mine powered both radios. Here, Lieutenant Kuchiki… I think if anyone should have the other one, it should be you."

"Thank you, Ichigo… Oh, and Ichigo?"

"Yeah, Lieutenant Kuchiki?"

"Don't call me Lieutenant Kuchiki. And also, come back safe. I swear I'll never forgive you if you die on me!" Rukia said, kissing Ichigo on the lips before he blushed deep crimson and went off. Her lips were surprisingly cool, but still just as soft as the first time, and they still tasted like cherries and strawberries.

Ichigo knelt behind a bush, doing his best to conceal his reiatsu, though he was fairly certain that he was doing a poor job at best. Fortunately, he had become much more talented at controlling his reiatsu, and his combat skills had improved as a result. When his reiatsu control was wild, it gave him a slight advantage because it threw the enemy off because of how it fluctuated.

But it was also a liability in that he leaked reiatsu like a stuck pig, and thus ran out faster than he should. Now, he didn't have the advantage of surprise and shock. But he had the advantage of a sharp reiatsu that even allowed him to cut Kenpachi with relative ease, albeit not quite as deeply as he would sometimes like, given the much larger Shinigami's propensity to challenge him to a fight every time they met, and his willingness to chase Ichigo if he refused.

Most times, now, Ichigo was able to use a Kido on the man and paralyze him for a few seconds while he ran. But Kenpachi was getting better at breaking the Kido with raw strength. A scary thought. Ichigo was watching this supposedly dangerous enemy. And Ichigo could sense the reiatsu on the person, for what but a person could they be called.

In fact, they looked like nothing so much as a young girl, maybe ten or eleven years at the oldest. From the way she was speaking with a boy that was in front of her, they seemed close, if not romantic, and they spoke briefly and laughed, then sat down together and looked at the clouds.

Ichigo was trying to examine their reiatsu, but it was difficult, since it was not that of an ordinary soul, but neither was it that of a Hollow, a Shinigami, a Quincy, a Fullbringer, a Vizard or any other combination or individual type of reiatsu. It resembled nothing so much as an amalgamation of all reiatsus, but also different from any.

"Rukia, come in. Are you getting the information on this reiatsu?"

"Yes. I am, and I'm relaying it forthwith to Kurotsuchi, who may be able to shed some light on the bizarre nature of it. It smells like death, but it's different from a Hollow's. Describe the people who are emitting it."

"There are two people over there that I'm observing, but I can't tell for sure whether one simply has residual reiatsu from the other on them. One is a boy, approximately twelve years of age, and the other is a girl, approximately eleven years of age. They seem to be familiar, possible romantically so with each other… Hold on."

"Can I help you children?" Ichigo asked condescendingly. The two looked at each other and frowned.

"We'd thank you not to spy on our date. I didn't know there were such lecherous pedos in the Thirteen Court Guards." The girl said irately.

"Well, unfortunately for you, one of you has killed numerous Court Guard officers. Can I ask you to come quietly with me?"

"Not one of us. _All_ of us. And I don't think we can come with you. Allow us to introduce ourselves, though. It would be terribly rude not to. My name is Ayame Oshiro, and this is my brother, Ryosuke Oshiro. And we are the leaders of a small 'cult' shall we say. More than that, I'm afraid you can find out for yourself. If you can last more than a minute against us… I must say that your comrades were hardly impressive.

"I had heard, my friend that the Thirteen Court Guard Companies had some of the best warriors in existence. I have to disagree there."

"Actually, Brother, their souls were quite tasty. Almost as tasty as their flesh. We ate their livers with some Fava Beans and a nice Chianti, Sluurrrrrpppp…"

"Great… A Hannibal Lecter reference. That's definitely appropriate for children your age."

"Actually, Captain Kurosaki, we are both over 6,000 years old. We have existed in Inuzuri for that entire time, feeding off the flesh and souls of those who try to harm us.

"But, unfortunately, they have not been much sustenance, which is why we were forced to wait so long. However, now, with… What was it, Sister? Five Eighth Seats, One Fourth Seat, One Fifth Seat, and ten unranked officers?"

"That sounds about right, Brother. Come, let us introduce our children to you. Children! Report!"

"Yes, Matron, Patron. We hear and obey." Came the droning voices of at least a dozen other children of varying ages, though none more than fourteen years of age. Suddenly, a horde of dead eyed children appeared in front of Ichigo, looking dead in terms of emotion, but overflowing with power that barely seemed to even remotely resemble any power Ichigo had ever seen before.

They were dark and threatening, and making him feel slightly queasy. It had a heavy, miasmal quality that reeked of death, but didn't seem similar to a Hollow's aura. Rather, it was closer to a Hollow's power, but not actually one. It was almost as if they moved as one, but not as one. Ichigo was certain that he was recording all that was happening. He spoke telepathically to the machine, as Kurotsuchi had said was possible.

 _They appear to have a hivemind mentality, mostly in the sense that their movements are perfectly planned and choreographed. They seem to be able to cross each other's paths while never harming one another. They possess weapons, but they seem not to actually be Zanpakuto. Regardless, if I am not mistaken, the weapons seem connected somehow to their power._

"I really hate to hurt little children like yourselves. But you're threats to the Soul Society. So you have to die." Ichigo said, pulling out Zangetsu and instantly moving into battle, then seeming to disappear, moving with Shunpo and getting behind the Patron, attacking, but hitting nothing but air. In the next moment, Ichigo felt an ice cold hand on his arm. It was the hand of one of the Hive, and his arm was starting to turn black.

"We apologize, Captain. We cannot allow you to harm the Matron or Patron. Without them, we would be nothing. Do not worry. The pain will end soon. We are only absorbing your spiritual energy. You will die, and we will be more powerful for it." The boy said with dead eyes.

For a moment, only agony monopolized Ichigo's senses. However, soon, he heard a feminine voice in the distance. He could barely hear it, but he heard the critical word.

"Bankai: Hakka no Togame…" Suddenly, an ice cold blast hit Ichigo, almost blowing him away. Ichigo held his ground, though and threw the startled child off of him, regaining his composure and activating his own Bankai.

"Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!" Ichigo shouted. In a burst of jet black spirit power, Ichigo appeared with a long stylized black tachi in one hand, and a similar looking katana in the other. In less than the blink of an eye, Ichigo jumped into the air, shot three Kuro Getsuga Tensho at the enemy, vaporizing three of the children.

 _They seem to have parasitic spirit powers. I would hazard the guess that it is similar to Necrosis in humans. Their touch is capable of disrupting spirit particles in a similar manner to Quincies, and they absorb the particles, making themselves more powerful._ Ichigo thought, landing, slashing at two more children, and taking them out.

 _Individually, the children aren't terribly strong. I suspect that the 'Matron and Patron' of the cult are more powerful. Their Necrotic touch seems to have with it a mildly paralytic agent that temporarily stops the one being drained. For those with high spirit energy, this is not as great a danger. But for rank and file shinigami, they could be drained and destroyed before they could fight back._

"Rukia-chan… Er, Lieutenant Kuchiki! I thought I requested that you remain behind in order to continue giving orders…" Ichigo said, trying not to sound too demanding.

"You must think me as dimwitted as you. I did remain behind.

"I did give orders. Then once I was done obeying your orders, _Captain Kurosaki_ …" Rukia said facetiously. "I stopped acting as a subordinate officer, and began acting as your girlfriend. I can fight long range while you fight melee as you are accustomed to."

"This entire area is my domain, now." Rukia said, the entire field freezing solid, allowing her total control over the area. As soon as a child entered her range, the child froze, falling over like a rock.

"I possess the power to reduce the surrounding temperature to Absolute Zero. That is -273.15oC or 0oK."

"The Matron and Patron seem not to be frozen yet. Perhaps they are more powerful than I suspected. I will have to support you from the back lines. I cannot stay in Bankai for long due to the danger it poses to my own body."

"Affirmative." Ichigo said, removing the wristband that he had gotten from Kurotsuchi that gave the same effect as Zaraki's eye patch. Suddenly, he had a huge burst of energy as spiritual energy positively exploded from his body.

In the next moment, though, it receded completely and Ichigo was in complete control, though Rukia could still feel his power, and found that she had never been more proud of him than she was in this moment. He had become a captain, overcome his tendency to leak spiritual energy, and made himself more powerful than ever in the process.

Ichigo immediately moved, dodging the Matron's necrotic attack, even as he healed the former necrotic attack's damage. In the next moment, he donned his Hollow Mask, a large, horned mask whose reiatsu unsettled even the seemingly emotionless Matron and Patron, who shivered slightly before turning to the children and commanding them.

"This is our final order to you, Children." The Matron said imperiously. The children bowed reverently, giving Ichigo pause.

"We hear and obey, Matron. What are your orders?"

"Activate Final Protocol Z-666."

"We surrender our powers to you, and pray that we meet you in the next life, Matron, Patron. We love you."

"We love you, as well, children…" The two leaders said together, looking as if they were crying and sounding completely sincere.

"We will channel your souls into the next Cult that you may never truly die."

Between the leaders and the children, they were all crying as the children glowed a dark and ominous black color that seemed to suck out all the light from the surrounding environs and make it seem even colder than Rukia's bankai had already made it.

Then, the souls of the children flew into each other, gathered into one collective and separated into two parts before flying into the leaders, who glowed that same dark black color that seemed to leech the light out of the air.

"Brother?"

"Yes, Sister?" The boy asked, seeming just as hurt by what they had been forced to do.

"Activate Final Protocol T- 20230914."

"I hear and confirm, Sister." The brother said coldly, stepping toward his sister, muttering in unison with his sister in a strange foreign language, probably one long dead. They then joined hands, lacing their fingers and kissing each other deeply on the lips, looking as lovers in that one moment.

 _"Captain Kurosaki. I recognize that language. They're speaking in Adamic…"_ Came a screechy voice that Ichigo could not help but recognize as Kurotsuchi's.

 _"I thank you for all this wonderful data. Your skills of observation are far better than I expected. Are you certain that you wouldn't like to be a scientist in my lab?"_

 _"I'll pass. I prefer being a regular Shinigami captain. I'll give you the data when I get back. But that's it."_

 _"Oh, of course. Feel free to ask for anything you like as well. I am very grateful to you. Now, fight. Win!"_

Ichigo sighed and signed off, activating his Blut Arterie in order to move even faster than before, seeming to disappear and reappear just as the twins conjoined into one person, having become exponentially more powerful.

"We congratulate you on forcing us into this situation. You are only the second person in history to force us into such a compromising situation. The first was Captain Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai… Now, you die." The child said in a voice that seemed like two voices in one throat.

"Don't bet on it!" Ichigo shouted, focusing all his power into his sword and swinging at the one child, taking off the right arm. However, in the next moment, the arm was back, almost as though it had never been cut off.

"We regenerate based on the souls of those we have killed. As Queen Victoria would say, 'we are not amused.' However, you're the first person in 500 years to harm us significantly."

 _Ichigo! Aim for the heart! Cut off their head! Their arm will grow back. The heart is harder to heal, as is the head. Kurotsuchi's advice."_

Ichigo nodded and attacked one more time, striking the heart perfectly, and then taking the katana half of his Bankai and slicing off the head with all his strength, before using Kuroi Getsuga Tensho to destroy the body so that it couldn't regenerate.

"I know that was hard, Ichigo. I'm impressed at your strength. Now, put your wristband back on. No need to keep leaking spiritual pressure." Rukia said kindly.

"I-it felt like killing my sisters. They didn't look much older than Karin or Yuzu, and… Nnggh!" Ichigo gasped, collapsing, feeling like he could barely breathe.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Rukia gasped and grabbed Ichigo, running back to Seireitei where he could be properly healed. It must have been a result of the necrotic attack that Ichigo took. Rukia put a hand over Ichigo's heart, trying to sense his reiatsu.

It was flickering rapidly. At its strongest, it was overwhelming as always it was. At its weakest, it was barely at the level of an unranked officer. The fluctuations were terrifying. They went between feeling like they were suffocating her, and barely being noticeable.

She couldn't believe that Ichigo was so badly harmed. As she was running, putting on as much speed as she could, even as she used Shunpo to its utmost limit, she was stopped in her tracks by Shinji, Kyoraku and Byakuya.

"N-Nii-sama! I-I'm so sorry!" Rukia cried, falling to her knees and bowing in reverence. "I-I tried to help him, but he made me stay behind! When I got there, he was already in battle with the enemy. I used my bankai to try to make it easier, but…"

"You may supply your report of the situation in writing, Lieutenant Kuchiki. But you and he survived. You defeated an enemy of the Seirieitei, and I am proud of you. Give Ichigo to Commander-General Kyoraku He is faster than you, and will bring Kurosaki back to the Seirieitei, and have him looked after. I cannot imagine that he would allow himself to die."

"Th-thank you, Nii-sama." Rukia said deferentially, bowing to Byakuya. Byakuya shook his head.

"You are my sister, Rukia, not my servant. There is no need to speak so deferentially toward me." Byakuya said sternly as Rukia handed Ichigo to Kyoraku who disappeared fast enough that Rukia sort of wondered if he had even been there in the first place.

"Nii-sama… I'm not sure I feel comfortable being familiar with you…" Rukia said uncertainly. She had always felt and shown a great deal of deference toward Byakuya, who was practically royalty in Soul Society. His was one of the oldest families in Seireitei that had produced exceptional Shinigami for generations, since the beginning.

"Work on it little by little. You have always shown me the proper respect as the head of the Kuchiki Clan. Now I wonder if you can show me proper treatment as your elder brother." Byakuya said, seeming uncommonly permissive and warm. "I still expect you to be respectful, but perhaps not quite so distant."

"Who are you, and what have you done with the real Nii-sama?" Rukia asked jokingly. Byakuya looked away and ruffled Rukia's hair, using Shunpo to leave. Rukia quickly followed suit, going immediately to the Squad Four barracks.

"Ichi-nii! Ichi-nii!" Came a loud voice from the doorway of the Squad Four barracks, and Karin came rushing in at breakneck speed, shoving aside anyone who dared to get in her way. She was truly beside herself with concern and fear at what she had heard about Ichigo's condition.

She had been told in the middle of the day at school, and she had arbitrarily decided to skip all the rest of her lessons for the day, not caring what she missed, knowing that Arisa would help her catch up.

"M-Miss Kurosaki…! Miss Kurosaki! Please calm down! I under…"

"NO! Y-you don't understand! What would anyone in this place understand about family! You all came from Rukongai where you live in makeshift families at best!

"Now if you know what's good for you, you'll get the fuck out of my way you stupid fucking bitch!" Karin shrieked manically, shaking the woman insanely, thrusting her against the wall.

"Karin Kurosaki…" Came a calm, soothing voice from the med room. "Is that your dulcet voice I hear?" She asked sarcastically. "It's a pleasure to see you again, but for the safety and health of the patients and the squad members here, I really must ask you to take a deep breath and calm yourself down.

"Your impressive but uncontrolled reiatsu is disturbing the already ailing patients. If you can promise to calm yourself, I'll take you to see your brother." The woman said. Karin had never met her before as far as she could remember. She had been under the impression that until recently, Unohana had been the captain of Fourth Squad. But Unohana had died in battle.

"I'm a little embarrassed not to recognize you, captain. But I don't believe we've met…" Karin said sheepishly. The captain smiled politely and took Karin's hand, leading her down the hall.

"That is quite alright. My name is Captain Yoshiko Kataguchi. Your brother's condition is unusual. I won't lie. He is in poor condition, but that is all the more reason why you need to remain calm. Any fluctuations in your reiatsu could have a detrimental effect on his."

"W-what do you mean!? I-is he going to be okay!? P-p-please… _Please_ … Please d-don't let Ichi-nii die…" Karin pleaded, tears flooding her steely gray eyes. Kataguchi looked down sympathetically at Karin, holding her close to her, and looking into the girl's gray eyes.

"I would never _let_ any of my patietnts die. I give my utmost to serve Soul Society by attending to every patient as thoroughly as I can. Some patients are beyond saving.

"Their injuries are too extensive and they haven't the reiatsu to assist in their own healing." She said, seeing and noting the terrified look on Karin's face. She looked like she was about to collapse in a nervous wreck. She had heard about Karin's strong brother complex, but she didn't know it was this powerful.

"Captain Kurosaki isn't such a patient. He's strong willed, has reishi to spare. In fact, he could likely assist all my other patients in their healing in their place. His problem isn't his willingness to heal or his quantity of reishi.

"It's the fact that there's something strange affecting him at the moment. A… Parasitic effect on his reiatsu. It isn't sapping his reiatsu, but it is making it terribly unstable. I've called Kurotsuchi and Urahara, as I believe this bizarre power at work on Captain Kurosaki is more their purview than mine. They'll be here… Now."

"Ahhh! Miss Kurosaki! What a pleasure to see you again!" Urahara said with his usual dumb grin on his face. Kurotsuchi had the same disturbing leer on his face as always.

"I am incensed that I am forced to work with this charlatan… But Kurosaki's treatment takes priority. Move aside, and stop sobbing like an infant you silly little girl! In my care, there's no way Kurosaki could die!"

"I-I-I am not crying! I'm just…"

"Captain Kurotsuchi… She's just worried about her brother." Urahara said, feeling like he owed at least that much of an explanation at the moment.

"Ah! You're Karin Kurosaki! I would love to get you on my table one of these days! I promise I'll sew you up good as new after I'm done! But Captain Kurosaki is so hesitant to share knowledge of his eminent hybrid powers! He is a Hollow, a Shinigami, a Fullbringer and a Quincy! One such creature has never been born! How much I desire to look inside him!"

"Yes, yes, Mayuri. Let's get Ichigo all better, then you can harass him to let you take a look inside his organs. But I'd watch out if you try to dissect Karin-chan… You don't know Kurosaki-san's penchant for revenge against those who harm his friends and family. It was frightening to see him fighting against that Fullbringer… Tsukishima I think it was."

"You're wasting time, damnit! Help my Ichi-nii!"  
"Kurosaki… I had a feeling I would find you here…" Came a stern voice from behind the group. Karin turned around to see Toshiro standing there looking at her chastisingly.

"You need to show proper respect to the captains of Soul Society. Apologize to them both…"

"No, no… Miss Kurosaki and I have known each other for a while. There's no need to apologize to friends." Urahara said, bowing and walking in to see Ichigo. He looked at the Shinigami captain and took a deep breath.

"This reiatsu surrounding him is horrid… The smell, the deathly sensation around it… It's amazing Captain Kurosaki is even still alive."

"Yes, I agree. I analyzed the reiatsu signatures based on the information Kurosaki gathered on those monstrous children. It's like a Hollow's reiatsu, but too dark and death-like. It is like even deeper death than a Hollow can bring to bear. A Hollow has a death-like aura, but only because they are dead souls, not because they truly embrace death as a principle, as a way of death, so to speak.

"This is mostly because most Hollows have little if any free will of their own. You cannot apply human sentiments to something that is barely sentient. These children are intelligent and tactical. They use the power of death at its deepest level, as the very most fundamental concept of death to destroy and decay."

"Their Necrotic touch allows them to destabilize the Reiatsu of other beings. In weaker beings, they would not be able to remain stable, and would be absorbed spirit body and soul. In powerful beings like Kurosaki, there is generally enough reishi that it would take a relatively long time making contact to completely destabilize.

"However, at the moment, he is leaking reishi at a dangerous rate, and it is leaving him weak. We need to forcibly stabilize his spirit body. If nothing is done, I would estimate that he would die within two days due to the spread of Spiritual Necrosis.

"In Mr. Kurosaki's case, I suspect that we need to excise the corrupted reishi, or his body will continue to spiritually decay. From my cooperative research with Captain Kurotsuchi, I suspect that this little device will suck out the corrupted reishi like a vacuum sucking up dirt and grime. This will leave Mr. Kurosaki weak for a while, and he may need reishi infusions in order to recover fully.

"However, I have made these reishi pills. They're charged with my own reishi and that of certain cooperative allies of mine. They are untested, but given the simulations that I ran, I feel that Mr. Kurosaki will make an excellent test subject." Urahara said quietly, taking the vacuum and attaching it to Ichigo's chest, where it began to suck out black reishi that had such a nauseating smell to it.

After fifteen or twenty minutes, it stopped and detached. Urahara handed the container of corrupted reishi to Kurotsuchi, who pocketed it and scowled at Urahara, who had clearly stolen Kurotsuchi's research and used it for himself.

"Now, Miss Kurosaki… If you would be so kind as to give this pill to Mr. Kurosaki and make him swallow it. It won't regenerate his lost reishi. He can do that on his own. It solidifies his reishi, and prevents the spiritual necrosis from spreading through his body.

"He needs two now, and two when he awakens, or in two days, whichever happens first." Urahara said kindly, handing Karin the pills and watching her lift Ichigo's head up, give him some water, and putting the pills in his mouth, pouring the water in and using her own reiatsu to make him involuntarily swallow.

Urahara had to admit that he was impressed by her control at the moment. In the next moment, Rukia came running in, looking calm, but slightly out of breath from running so far. She explained that she hadn't stopped running or using Shunpo since she left Inuzuri, which was far out in Rukongai. It was amazing that even Rukia, as a lieutenant had managed it. She did look exhausted, though.

"Hey, Rukia! I was here first!" Karin yelled, behaving rather jealously. Rukia wouldn't have been surprised if Karin started calling dibs on her brother. She didn't though. She just shoved Rukia none too gently aside and ran over to Ichigo.

"H-hey, Karin… How's it going? Don't worry about me. Get back to school and finish your practice for the day. I'm not going to die anytime soon. I can't. I still have two worlds to protect."

"No! I can't just leave you not knowing if you're going to be alright!" Karin protested vehemently. Ichigo just laughed, though.

"Believe me, this woman is plenty qualified to help me recuperate. Judging by her reiatsu, she wouldn't let me die even if I was halfway over death's door. Trust her, Karin. The Gotei Thirteen are very competent at their jobs, even if they sometimes have trouble distinguishing the lawful thing to do from the right thing to do… I'll explain later. Go… Scoot…"

Karin huffed angrily and stormed out just as Renji ran in, yelling for Rukia.

"Rukia! You weren't hurt, were you?!" Renji asked. Rukia sighed and scowled at Renji.

"I wasn't hurt, Renji."

"So nice to know you were concerned about me, too, Renji…" Ichigo said sarcastically. Renji sneered at Ichigo.

"Oh, get over yourself, Captain Kurosaki. Not even death could kill you. But I'm so glad to see that you are so deserving of that captain's robe that two children could maim you." 

"You just here to see Rukia, then?" Ichigo asked with a sigh. Renji shook his head.

"I also came to make fun of you, Hard to believe two children were able to harm you so badly." Renji said smugly.

He knew he was being mean for no reason, but he was still slightly angry that he had been friends with Rukia for over a century, and Ichigo just walked into the picture, and the two of them fell in love. Rukia sighed. Ichigo wasn't really in any condition to be arguing with people, though Rukia knew that he would never back down from a challenge like that.

"Renji, you can go back to arguing on a daily basis with Ichigo after he heals up. For now, just let him convalesce." Rukia said firmly. At this, Renji fumed, but didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed Rukia's arm and dragged her out of the room.

"Ow! Ow! Renji! You're hurting me!" Rukia protested. Renji didn't stop, though and finally, he pushed her in front of him, gripping her arms.

"I don't understand what you see in that idiot, Rukia! You and I have been best friends for over a century! And I've loved you almost as long! This guy just walks into your life one day and you fall head over heels for him in less than a year! What the hell! I know he looks a lot like Kaien, but…"

"You think _that's_ what this is about!? Renji, you're an even bigger fool than I thought! I care about you, Renji! You're one of my best friends, but your jealousy is becoming unbearable! This has nothing… _Nothing_ to do with Kaien! Now get out of my way! I can't believe it!

"You somehow managed to ruin my entire day!" Rukia screamed, icy blasts radiating off of her body. After a moment, she took a deep breath and strode away, angry as she had been, but slightly calmer than before. She had realized that she was about to lose control of her Zanpakuto power.

Even when her sword was sealed, it was still immensely powerful, especially with her Bankai. She still couldn't control her Bankai perfectly, even after a year of training. Byakuya told her that it was not going to be easy to control her incredible ability. But she had seen how quickly Ichigo had gained control and even mastery of his powers. She was fairly jealous of his incredible ability to bloom so fully in adversity.

"Nii-sama! Nii-sama! I need to talk to you!" Rukia demanded, bowing briefly, but not showing the typical deference that she did toward him. Byakuya opened one eye and looked sternly at Rukia.

"I can feel you losing control of your reiatsu, Rukia.

"Sit down and take a deep breath. Meditate with me, and when you are calmer, I will speak to you. It is impossible to carry on a normal conversation with someone who has no control over their emotions. Why do you think I find it so difficult to speak to Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked, looking at Rukia demandingly.

She knew he was right. She couldn't talk in her current mood. She would start screaming, and Byakuya would send her away, and she wouldn't be able to talk to him. So she sat down and took deep breaths, calming herself until she felt her breathing slowing to a normal rate, her heart rate slowing as well, and her shaking subsiding.

She had truly been shaking with rage for a while, but meditating helped her calm herself. She couldn't quite manage to get into a meditative state, but she was feeling a bit better, and after fifteen or twenty minutes, Byakuya told her that he would talk to her, now.

"Nii-sama… I-I went to visit Ichigo… E-er, Captain Kurosaki… A-and he's doing much better. His body has healed very well. I was amazed that he was looking so much better… B-but then… R-Renji just had to _ruin_ my entire day!" Rukia growled, feeling her trembling coming back. Byakuya put a hand on Rukia's shoulder.

"You should not allow him to ruin your day. Renji is very rash, foolhardy and impetuous. You have proven many times to be better than him at keeping your composure. Now, what happened? Tell me calmly, if you would."

"W-well, Renji and Ichigo got into an argument, and I just wanted him to stop harassing Ichigo, so I asked him to let Ichigo convalesce before he got into an argument with him.

"So Renji grabbed me and dragged me out of the room and started protesting about how I could possibly fall in love with Ichigo after only knowing him for two years, and then… H-he brought Kaien into it. I-I could've handled his attacks on my own quickness to fall in love with Ichigo, on Ichigo's own imperfections. B-but…"

"You wonder why he would bring up such a personal issue as Kaien. I must confess that I always saw many parallels between Kurosaki and Kaien. These parallels were only confirmed when I realized that Ichigo was in fact related to Kaien through his father, Isshin Shiba, now called Isshin Kurosaki.

"That may have little to do with their similarities, but I understand how Renji sees the similarities. It was wrong of him to bring Kaien up. But you should not let it ruin your whole day. Now, go… See Kurosaki. I shall deal with Renji if you like…" Byakuya said sternly. Rukia shook her head quickly.

"I imagine that he's already had it out with Ichigo. I don't think anyone could have dragged them apart in the mood Renji was in. Well, I have to get going. I hope they haven't killed each other by now."

"Renji! Ichigo!" Rukia demanded furiously, storming in and blushing deeply upon seeing that not only were they not fighting, they were sitting there, just talking calmly and quietly. They were actually acting like mature adults. It was bizarre, almost scary.

"Geez, Lieutenant Kuchiki… Is there any need to yell like that?" Ichigo asked, covering his ears. Rukia sighed.

"I was sure you were going to be killing each other by now. The way you were arguing, I wasn't sure there would be anything left of you two." Rukia said with a laugh.

"No, no. After you left, Ichigo's sister yelled at us for fighting, and we stopped. Ichigo… You never told me your sister had gotten so hot! Why didn't you mention that!?" Renji demanded. Ichigo looked angrily at Renji.

"Hey, idiot! That's my fucking sister you're talking about! Besides, why the hell should I tell you!? It ain't your business dipwad! And don't you dare talk about my sister like that!"

"Eh… We all know she's dating Captain Hitsugaya anyway. See ya later, Ichigo…" Renji said.

Rukia sighed and sat down next to Ichigo's bed, putting a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"I was impressed by your skill. You should have considered Kido, though. Your ability may be less refined than my own. But you could probably stand to learn a few spells."

"I already know a few. Not really any high level spells. I can hardly perform a Hado 90 without its incantation like Aizen. But I somehow managed to restrain Kenpachi for a few seconds with a Bakudo #1."

"You managed to hold Captain Zaraki with a Bakudo #1? That's impressive. What other spells do you know?" Rukia replied. Ichigo looked at her briefly then thought for a moment.

"Well, I've used Hado #3 once in practice. Other than that, I have nothing. I tried to do Hado #33. But it blew up in my face." Ichigo said irritably. Rukia shrugged.

"I imagine you could do it now if you tried… Not right now, fool! You'll destroy the ward and hurt yourself! You're in no condition to practice Kido right now." Rukia snapped. Ichigo laughed briefly, reminded of what Rukia was like when they first met.

"What are you laughing at!?" Rukia asked, blushing slightly. Ichigo smirked wider, and leaned in to kiss Rukia on the lips before he looked at her again.

"I'm just remembering the night we first met. You broke into our house through my window and then ignored me when I tried to talk to you."

"Until you kicked me in the back of the head."

"Yeah. You were really surprised that I could touch you. Then you used a spell on me to paralyze me and then drew a crappy moustache on my face." Ichigo said, laughing

"Yeah… But even with the Kido on you, you were stubborn enough to break it and stupid enough to face that Hollow barehanded!" Rukia added. The two of them started laughing together even louder now, until the captain came in again and shushed them.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki, Captain Kurosaki… I can appreciate your rapport with each other. But do try to keep it a little bit quieter in here. This is a therapeutic facility." Captain Kataguchi said firmly. The two nodded and quieted down quickly.

"Oh, Lieutenant Kuchiki… Your brother has a message for you… He said to come home quickly. You're having guests for dinner this evening."

"I see. I'll be going then, Ichigo. It was fun catching up on old times." Rukia said, kissing Ichigo once more before leaving. Ichigo gently took Rukia's cheek in his hand and put his other arm around her, pulling her closer, kissing her more deeply.

Out of respect, Captain Kataguchi looked away while the two were kissing. She was fairly certain that Byakuya wouldn't approve of them making such displays of affection in public. But she also knew that it wasn't her business.

"I-I'm sorry, Ichigo. I'd love to stay longer. But I can't just ignore Nii-sama's command… Did Nii-sama say who was coming to dinner, Captain Kataguchi?" Rukia asked. Yoshiko shook her head.

"Captain Kuchiki didn't mention who it was except to say that they were important and that you were expected home forthwith."

"I-I understand, Captain. Thank you for relaying the message. I'll come back to see you again as soon as I can, Ichigo." Rukia said, smiling and then running off, quickly turning to Shunpo to move faster.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki is quite an amazing young woman, Captain Kurosaki… I hope you realize how lucky you are to have her…" Yoshiko said with a smile. Ichigo sighed and looked away, blushing slightly.

"She's definitely amazing. I… I…"

"I'll let you get some sleep, Captain. Sleep well, and recover quickly."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Dokugamine…" Came a young voice from the doorway. Riruka turned around and looked levelly at Yukio.

"Yukio? Just call me Riruka. I'm the same person as I was before I started working for you. The fact that I work here changes nothing." 

"I-I know… You're doing a great job here. We're making more money than ever with your dresses. Your style is incredible. How do you keep coming up with dresses like that?"

"I just base my decisions on what I would like… Being as eminently talented as I am, people pick up on that through my work…" Riruka said snidely.

Yukio sighed. He should have known that she would give a smart answer like that. He blushed and looked at Riruka one last time.

"Hey, R-Riruka… I know this is sort of forward of me, but… Would you maybe like to go on a date sometime?" Yukio asked, turning a deep crimson color.

Riruka seemed actually hesitant for once. She looked away, turning a slight pink color as well.

"I'm flattered, Yukio… But… I'm already dating Shukuro. Damnit! Where did I leave off on this dress!?" Riruka flared, looking all over the dress for the pin, but not finding it.

"You were hemming the frill on the right sleeve, Riruka…" Yukio said. Riruka nodded, and went back to sewing the frill on it. After another hour of watching Riruka sew and occasionally sit and stare at the dress, she finished, and pressed the call button.

A middle aged woman came in with whom Yukio was somewhat familiar.

"Yuu-kun! How nice to see you again… I didn't know that you and Riru-chan were friends. Riruka hissed.

" _Don't_ call me Riru-chan!" She snarled angrily. The woman smiled apologetically.

"Sorry… You're just so adorable. I think you and my daughter would get along really well." The woman said. Riruka snorted under her breath.

"My daughter is about the same age as you. She loves those gothic lolita style clothes you always make."

"They're not Gothic Lolita! They're just trendy! I-I'm sorry… What was your name again?"

"Oh, Tsunenaga Asuka."

"Mrs. Tsunenaga… Maybe I've already met your daughter. Does she go to Karakura High School?" Riruka asked, gritting her teeth and trying to be friendly.

"Yes, actually. She's… Well, how old are you, Riruka?" Asuka asked. Riruka scowled, but after a moment, she answered.

"I'm 15. How… How old is your daughter, Tsunenaga-san?"

"Well, she's 15 as well…"

"Wait… Is your daughter named Noa Tsunenaga?" Riruka asked. Asuka nodded happily.

"I know her. I met her my first and last day at Karakura High. I wanted to punch her for asking me what kind of conditioner I used."

"Oh, well… You know teenage girls. So concerned with appearance. You do have lovely hair. I'm not surprised you make others envious."

"I-if you'll excuse me… I-I have to get back to work. I have another dress sketch to produce by the end of the day."

"Of course, Riruka. See you again, Yuu-kun!" The woman said, walking out. Riruka sneered, and went back to work on the dress, clipping the end of the string, and fluffing it slightly before going to her drawing pad and beginning to sketch out another dress. She had already made eight different dresses. The particular line of dresses called for fifteen dresses.

"Let's see… Karin… I've been wondering… We've been seeing each other… Well, not really _seeing_ … At least not in the way you humans consider it… But I've taken you on several… Outings? Is that what humans would call it…? And, well… No… That sounds completely stupid! Hinamori! What do you think I should say!?" Toshiro demanded. Hinamori perked up slightly, blushing a light shade of pink.

"I don't think you need my help, Shiro-chan… Just tell her how you feel. I'm sure she'll be happy. You're overthinking this." Momo said, wishing somewhat that he would want to spend as much time with her as he did with Karin. She couldn't deny that Karin was gorgeous.

She was smart, strong, pretty, and being related to Ichigo, she probably had some Quincy in her as well. Between her and Ichigo, they could probably bring about a whole new breed of Shinigami… Shinigami who could use Quincy powers as well as their Shinigami abilities.

"O-Okay… How about this… Karin… Would you like to go on a date with me? No! That's way too forward! I'm a captain! She's an academy student! Hinamori! I could r-really use your help on this!" Toshiro exploded helplessly. He had never really felt this way about anyone. He had thought he had feelings for Hinamori at one point.

But then he realized that he only ever loved her like a sister. But, Karin was completely batshit for her brother. So maybe the two didn't need to be mutually exclusive. That said, he didn't feel romantically for Hinamori, and he was certain he never would. She was his best friend. She was like a sister. She looked out for him sometimes. She wasn't anything like a love interest.

"You give yourself too little credit, Shiro-chan. I'm sure Kurosaki-san will be very charmed by you." She said sincerely. Toshiro raised an eyebrow at this.

"Charmed? By me? The last person that was charmed by me was Captain Ukitake, and he just wanted to give me weird presents. I can't remember a single girl that was ever charmed by me." Toshiro muttered.

Hinamori put a hand on Toshiro's back, sitting down next to him.

"Why don't we go back to roleplaying for a bit. Maybe with some practice, you'll know what you want to say. Okay. So, you knock on Kurosaki-san's door, and she answers the door…

"Yeah!? Whaddaya want!? I'm studying!" Hinamori said, roleplaying her impression of Karin's personality, giggling slightly at her somewhat contrary personality.  
"Um… Um… U-um… K-Kar… K-Kurosa…"

"Just call me Karin, damnit!" Hinamori snapped, trying to even adopt Karin's scowl, but having to stifle a giggle. She really did act a lot like Ichigo. She looked like him, too. They both must have resembled their father… Or so she assumed.

"K-K-Karin, then… I-I wanted t-to know… To know if… If you wanted t-to go… Out with me…" Toshiro stuttered, feeling like a little child, cowering from an angry parent. Hinamori couldn't help but be amused. For all that he tried to be cold and collected all the time, he really had a hard time asking Karin out. They had been talking about this for hours, and they had made little if any progress.

"Oh… I guess I could go on a few dates with you… I make no promises, though." Hinamori said, going for Tsundere, but failing miserably. She was just so cheerful that she couldn't pull off tsundere.

"See? You can do it if you try. Just practice what you want to say, and practice saying it with confidence. Kurosaki-san will pick up on your confidence…"

"I-I'm sure she'd tell you to call her Karin as well, Hinamori-san."

"Just call me Momo! We've been friends for over a hundred years!" Momo snapped, storming out. Before she left, though, she winked and wished Toshiro luck with confessing to Karin.

Finally, the day had come. It was Friday, but the entire school had off because it was the headmaster's birthday. The Shin'o Academy had a three day weekend. Karin would no doubt use most of the time to train. But Toshiro had a message sent to her telling her to wait in her room until 1000h, after which point, she could leave. Not terribly clever. But the best he could think of on short notice.

Toshiro took a deep breath, already feeling vertigo overwhelming his senses, and reaching up to knock on the door. Before he could, though, he was told to enter by Karin, who seemed to sense his coming.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Your reiatsu is out of control today. You seem dizzy. What's wrong? You usually have the focus and control of a hawk."

"I'll take that as a compliment. I-I… Geez… I had my entire speech written out, and I memorized it earlier. Now I can't remember a single word…"

"Just get on with it. I have shit to do, you know? I'm a student, not a carefree child."

"I-I know… I wanted to know if you'd… G-go out with me…" Toshiro muttered. Karin heard him loud and clear, despite his muttering, and scowled for a moment, before bursting into laughter. She hardly ever laughed. The only thing she did less than laugh was cry.

For a moment, she couldn't stop, but finally, she got control of herself and took a few deep breaths, wiping her eyes.

"S-sorry, Toshiro… I just didn't… I thought you and that lieutenant girl were dating…"

"Hinamori? No. We've been friends since we were kids… Well, relatively speaking. So… Is that a no?" Toshiro asked, seeming somewhat hurt. Karin shook her head.

"Sure… I'll go out with you. Do you want to spar with me today?" Karin asked. Toshiro seemed surprised by this question.

He wasn't really supposed to spar with students. He could seriously hurt a student. He was a captain. But maybe it would be alright. He nodded, and followed her down to the dojo, which was already filling up rapidly. Toshiro scowled and took Karin's hand, going down to the dojo, where they each grabbed a bokken. Karin faced off against Toshiro, and the two crossed swords and bowed.

Toshiro counted down, although counting down to make sure that both fighters were ready would be a moot point in a real battle. There may not even be time to prepare. One would have to be ready for anything. But Karin was still an Academy student. So it wasn't something he should do. The two clashed, and Karin's sword seemed to move uncannily fast considering she was such a new student.

Toshiro had to step it up a bit if he was to not embarrass himself in front of a student. Of course, he wasn't going all out. But if he remembered correctly, Karin had been training with Mashiro, who was not uncommonly skilled with Zanjutsu, but was highly talented with Hakuda and Hoho. However, she was also training with Soi Fon and Ichigo on certain occasions.

So that would indicate that she must be fairly skilled in most areas of fighting if she had such a well-rounded group of people training her…

 _If only Captain Kurosaki could be so well rounded. His Kido is almost non-existent. He's gotten better. But he has a lot of work to do on it._ Toshiro thought to himself.

"He could still wipe the floor with me." Toshiro said to himself, not realizing that he was talking out loud. Karin stopped midstep and was rewarded with a strike to the stomach, driving the wind out of her. Karin gasped, and fell to the floor, trying desperately to catch her breath. Toshiro seemed lost in thought for a moment. Then he realized what had happened.

"Are you alright, Karin? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard." He said, kneeling down.

"Wh… Who… *Gasp!* Who would wipe… The floor with… You…?" Karin asked, curious, now. Toshiro looked at her.

"I didn't say that out loud, did I?" He asked. Karin confirmed this for him. Toshiro silently cursed.

"Your brother. He may be imbalanced in his fighting. But he would kick my ass in a fight. He's… Incredibly powerful." Toshiro said, looking slightly jealous. Karin couldn't blame him. Toshiro had been a Shinigami for over 100 years, most likely, whereas Ichigo had been one three years at most, and already Ichigo was more powerful than most captains.

"I understand that you still have feelings for Kurosaki… But…"

"Don't… Talk about that. I can't stand when boys aren't confident in themselves. I said I'd go out with you. Either accept that, or we can go our separate ways right now." Karin said authoritatively. Toshiro nodded, and prepared for another clash.

The two crossed swords again, and Toshiro began to see that Karin was already quite talented. Karin was quite skilled at acrobatics, or Hakuda as it was called. She was doing cartwheels, twisting out of the way of every attack that Toshiro made on Karin, and pressing small, but creative attacks back on Toshiro. He was deeply impressed with her nimbleness and speed.

He could easily have sped up, himself and outmaneuvered her. But for the time, he was enjoying himself. He made occasional attacks, but mostly defended himself from her attacks, and exploited her weak points to force her to try harder and become more impenetrable. She was impressive. But soon, she was truly on the offensive, and she kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding back a bit.

Here, she stopped and apologized, but was still scowling like she was angry.

"You're going easy on me! You're not even giving a tenth of your full ability, are you?" Karin demanded. Toshiro scoffed.

"Of course I'm not. If I gave a tenth of my full ability, you would be in the infirmary in five seconds flat." The young captain sneered. Karin hissed in annoyance at his perceived arrogance.

"I'm not as weak as you think I am! Just because I'm only a few months into the Academy doesn't mean I'm weak or defenseless! Don't look down on me!" Karin yelled. Toshiro sighed, then nodded.

"Okay. One tenth it is. Don't protest later, though." He said with a smirk, taking his stance, and moving at a quick run at Karin, then seeming to disappear and reappear behind her. Karin felt his spirit signature, though… Just in time, and turned, blocking his attack, pushing back and flipping into the air and using a level four Bakudo, unincanted. It was weak, but it held Toshiro momentarily.

Karin landed and kicked high, aiming for his head. Toshiro broke the Kido, and dodged, striking for Karin's side, just barely missing. Karin found that Toshiro was right. One-tenth of his power was impressive. But she felt he was still going too easy. Suddenly, though, she felt a heavy blow to her chest, and gasped as a level 1 Hado struck her.

It was unincanted, but very powerful, and sent her flying across the room into the back wall, completely winded. Already it had been hard to fight him at 10%, and she felt certain now that he had been lying about going at 10%. She suspected that he kept himself at 1% or something like that… If he had even been measuring like that. Maybe he just went as easy as he could, then went up just slightly.

"Kurosaki! Are you alright? I'm hardly a master of healing Kido. But I can at least take care of simple injuries. Hold on." Toshiro said, kneeling down next to Karin, feeling just over her chest, sensing that she had a hairline fracture of one of her ribs.

"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to…" Toshiro began. Karin kissed him into silence, though.

"Don't apologize. I asked you to fight harder, and you did. I still don't believe you used one tenth of your ability." Karin laughed, coughing hard, and holding her ribs.

"Don't talk. I'm healing your rib right now. Unless your Quincy powers allow you to regenerate?"

"Nope. I don't think so. It would be cool if I could. But I doubt it. I heal pretty quickly. But it's hardly regeneration. More like… Well… I just heal quickly…"

"That may be partially due to your high level or reiatsu… Being related to Kurosaki, I don't doubt that you have the ability to manifest ridiculous amounts of reiatsu. Your Hoho is getting much better, though. You're still training with Lieutenant Kuna, aren't you?" Toshiro asked. Karin blushed slightly at the compliment.

"Y-yeah… Well… I've always been better at sports than at swordfighting… Besides, I'm pretty sure swords were created by men who were insecure about their size." Karin said with a snicker. Toshiro turned bright red at this. Was she making fun of him? When had she ever seen him down there to know how big he was?"

"I-I… You…!"

"Oh, relax, Toshiro… It was a joke. It wasn't aimed at you. I'm sure you're huge, or whatever it is men want girls to say about them…" Karin said, waving her hand dismissively. This didn't really set him at ease too much. But he took her word at face value for the moment.

After all, Karin didn't seem the type to mince words. She was just like Ichigo in that sense. If she had something to say, she would say it. If she didn't like someone, she would confront them about it most likely.

"You know, I seem to remember a bet that you and I made… It was a bit more than two months ago. But I think it's time to call in our bet." Karin said with a smirk. Toshiro nodded, uncertainly, and the two went to see Ichigo, who was in his office, trying to meditate. It seemed to be a habit of hers, now, walking in on Ichigo's meditation time. He was getting better, and he didn't notice them.

They walked in and sat down across from Ichigo. After approximately thirty minutes, Ichigo opened his eyes and saw the two of them sitting there, waiting for him. Ichigo scowled.

"Today is my day off. I haven't had any stuff to do today, so I was actually taking it easy. What's wrong?" Ichigo asked. Toshiro's eyebrows knitted together irritably.

"Karin and I made a bet on whether you could actually learn Kido in the two months since she joined the Academy. That means, that you have to prove whether or not you can do Kido." Toshiro said. Normally, he wasn't so competitive. But at the moment, he needed to know who was right.

"Which Kido did you want me to do? I'm better at Hado than Bakudo. Wait! Why do I have to be the subject of your bet!?"

"Why not? There are a lot worse things Toshiro and I could have bet on about you… How good a kisser you actually were.

"That would have required that we ask Rukia… How big your…"

"Alright! I get it, damnit! What Kido do you want me to do?" Ichigo demanded. Toshiro thought for a moment.

"Just the highest level Hado that you can." Toshiro said, the scowl still on his face.

Ichigo walked outside, and pointed in the air.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!" Ichigo yelled, shooting a blast of red fire into the air.

It was unrefined, and if he used too many kido at that level, he would end up draining himself of his Reiatsu. However, it was impressive that in only two months, he could manage all that. Again, it took most Shinigami-to-be until second or third year until they could even hope to have the control to perform Kido like that, then another year or so to actually have the reiatsu to do it.

Ichigo gasped as he tried to catch his breath after unleashing a Kido that powerful. He hadn't been prepared for the backlash. He was exhausted, and collapsed into a chair. Toshiro actually laughed at this, causing Karin to punch him.

"I… I've actually never done that Kido before. I wasn't sure if it would work. I'm better at low level Kido…" Ichigo said.

"So, have you asked Karin out yet, Toshiro?" Ichigo whispered. Toshiro nodded.

"Good for you. Did she say yes?"

"Yeah… I was surprised, too… With her huge brother complex, I never expected her to say yes. But I'm glad. I hope I can make her happy."

"Well, I hope so too… But it's not my business who my sisters go out with. You'd better treat her right, though…" Ichigo said threateningly. Then he half smiled. "I'm sure you will." Ichigo said. Toshiro raised an eyebrow. He was never this nice. But he wasn't going to complain.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"Hey, Ichigo… I know it's strange to say this, but we hardly get any time together. You've been really busy with your captain work, and well, I've been given more missions lately by Captain Ukitake. We've been on a few dates…"

"I'm sure I could pass some of the work to Lisa… She doesn't seem to have much of a life outside of teasing me, and reading dirty magazines. I'll make more time if that's what would make you happy…" Ichigo said, sounding completely out of character.

He was usually kind of stand-offish and even cold at times. But now, he seemed really tender, even. Suddenly, he stood and then sat back down next to Rukia, embracing her and kissing her warmly on the lips.

Rukia blushed slightly, but leaned into the kiss, hugging Ichigo just as tightly. Ichigo smiled as he gently put his hand on Rukia's back, his hand moving lower and lower, gently caressing her body. Even through her obi, and her hakama, she could feel his touch warm on her cool skin. Slowly, he began to untie her sash, and remove her hakama, dropping it on the floor, revealing Rukia's small but perfect breasts.

Ichigo breathed lightly on the left breast, kissing the nipple and sucking on it briefly, his tongue running over it, causing Rukia to yelp in surprised pleasure at the tingling sensation that ran through her body. Rukia gasped, trying to gather her thoughts, finding it hard to do. Finally, she took a deep breath, and although her voice wasn't as steady as she would have liked, she spoke.

"H-hhhow… Did y-you get so good at this…?"

"I read some of Urahara-san's pervy books. I wanted to make it perfect for you." Ichigo said, gently prodding Rukia's pussy with his index and middle finger, kissing her gently on the lips, his kisses moving from her lips to her cheek, then her jawbone, making their way down to her shoulder, then her arm down to her hand, slowly taking her pants off, leaving Rukia just in her panties.

Ichigo eased Rukia onto the bed, licking her pussy through the thin fabric of her panties. As he did, Rukia began gasping and moaning in pleasure, begging Ichigo for more. After a few minutes of this, Rukia exploded, her panties becoming soaked. Rukia had been imagining this moment for years in her more private moments.

When she was with Ichigo, she had to be all business. But when she was alone, she could be as perverted as she wanted. If Urahara knew about what she did when she was alone… He would never let her live it down. He would tease her forever. Of course, the rather illicit relationship she suspected he had with Yoruichi would not only incense Soi Fon, but could be fun to hold over his head… Again, for that exact reason.

Not only did Soi Fon despise Kisuke, she was immensely jealous of his good relationship with Yoruichi. So it could potentially be fun to tell Soi Fon, sit back and watch the bombs go off.

"A-ah! I-Ichigo! N-not so hard!" Rukia cried, wincing as he bit down a bit too hard on her, leaving more of a welt than a hickey.

"S-sorry… It's my first time." Ichigo said, feeling suddenly very lame for making excuses.

"Be… A-ah… A b-bit gentlaahh-ahh-ahh…! Gentler… Aaahhh…" Rukia cried as she orgasmed again, even harder than the previous time, tears of pleasure flooding her deep blue eyes.

Ichigo twisted and crawled up to lie on top of her, still kissing her gently, his hand lightly caressing her breasts and his other hand pulling her panties down so that her soaked panties were now on the floor. As Ichigo gently caressed Rukia, he positioned himself at her entrance, prodding at her pussy before slowly pushing in. Rukia gasped as his penis buried itself all the way inside her, breaking her barrier.

As her hymen broke, she cried out. Ichigo stopped her, kissing her gently.

"Are you alright, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, holding her tightly. Rukia nodded, gritting her teeth. A strange tingling sensation was beginning to overwhelm her. It wasn't that it felt good, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"It…s common f-for a woman to feel… pain the first time… fool… K-keep going…" Rukia growled, her pussy heating up quickly. Ichigo nodded, already feeling close. He began to thrust, pulling in and out of her, growling in pleasure, kissing Rukia gently as he moved inside of her.

As he moved, he could hear, though just barely, Rukia crying out in ecstasy under him. Soon, he felt her walls begin to contract around him, and she orgasmed first. He felt himself getting close, but didn't want it to end yet, so he kept going, holding himself back using a combination of reishi, and self-control, until finally, he released inside her, shuddering as he finished.

Exhausted now, both from the physical exertion and from the expenditure of reiatsu, Ichigo collapsed next to Rukia, kissing her once before falling asleep.

After a few hours, Rukia woke up first, and got up, going to the bathroom in Ichigo's office, turning the water up as hot as it would go, and getting in. Although she had an icy cold zanpakuto, she appreciated hot water as much as the next Shinigami.

After she got out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her, and going back to the office, being greeted by Ichigo as she walked in. He hugged her, kissing her gently on the lips, and leading her over to the bed. He was still naked from earlier, and rock hard. He slowly unwrapped her towel, gently caressing her breasts, flicking her nipple with his tongue.

"I love you, Rukia-chan." Ichigo whispered, kissing her on the lips again, his hand wandering down to her pussy, prodding it lightly. Rukia hissed in pleasure as his fingers brushed against her clit, nearly causing her to orgasm. Ichigo kept going until she came, feeling it even more intensely than last night.

This went on for a while, Ichigo playing with Rukia until finally, she found herself practically begging for him to enter her. Ichigo whispered something in her ear, causing Rukia to turn bright red. Ichigo had always been so plain vanilla that she never had considered that he thought about that kind of thing. It wasn't that she minded. But… Wouldn't it hurt?

She nodded, nonetheless, though, and got on her hands and knees, and waited, taking a deep breath as she felt the head pushing into her ass. As it went deeper, she groaned in pain, feeling her ass stretching around him. She wouldn't be able to sit right for a week after this. But Ichigo gasped in pleasure, finally burying himself to the hilt, and staying still for a minute, exercising incredible self-restraint to keep from simply plowing her immediately.

After a few moments, Rukia nodded that he could move, and Ichigo began thrusting, moving in and out at a slow, languorous pace, gritting his teeth already with ecstasy. He wanted to make this last as long as he could, so he held himself, breathing and continuing to thrust. However, as he buried himself again, Karin walked into the office and spoke immediately.

"Hey, Ichi-nii! What the hell!? _What the hell!?_ " Karin yelled, seeing Ichigo having sex with Rukia. This distraction caused Ichigo to orgasm immediately, shuddering in intense pleasure at the tightness of it. How could she manage having his dick in her ass like that? She had heard about it in the halls, stupid boys talking about the pornos they watched. But she never considered it a possibility. She was caught halfway between morbid fascination and disgust at the thought.

"K-Karin-chan…" Rukia gasped, her face bright red in a combination of intense pleasure, and embarrassment at having Ichigo's little sister seeing them like this. Ichigo jumped down from the bed, struggling to put his clothes on as quickly as he could.

Rukia seemed to have an easier time of it, slipping into her clothes with the graceful ease of a dancer. She smiled slightly guiltily at Karin.

"Let's go for a walk, Karin-chan…" Rukia said with a smile. Karin nodded, still slightly breathless. She was slightly jealous. She wished, in some part of her, that Ichigo would do that to her. But she also knew that she had agreed to go out with Toshiro, and that she legitimately liked him.

She didn't just agree to go out with him because he asked. For a moment, Rukia and Karin walked in silence, not looking at each other. It was pretty quiet in Soul Society at that time of the evening. So they didn't exactly have to whisper to not be overheard.

"Listen, Karin-chan… Ichigo and I… We…"

"You d-don't need to explain yourself, Rukia… Couples are s-supposed t-to do things like that… I-it's… Completely… Natural…" Karin muttered, tears stinging her slate grey eyes.

"No, that's not it… I-I… I know you still have feelings for Ichigo. You can't hide it from me. Ichigo may be fooled, but he was oblivious to the fact that Orihime was in love with him. What does that say about his sense of perception?" Rukia asked with a smirk.

"I-I do… But I know I can never have him… I… How could you do that in front of me!?" Karin demanded, her voice breaking as she broke down in tears. She never cried. Never. She had promised that she would never cry again after her mother died.

"I-I didn't mean to, Karin-chan… You just sort of walked in… We should have locked the door, I know. But… I didn't expect to be doing that again in one night…"

" _Twice!?_ You two fucked twice in one night!? No, i-it's not my business… I-I have to go back to school… I'm getting promoted two class levels. They… They're really impressed with me, but I need to pass a test to be moved up."

"Stop… You're not going anywhere in that condition. Would you like to get something to eat?"

"With _you_!?" Karin asked scathingly. "Hell no!"

"You don't have a choice. We'll go to a great American restaurant they have around here. Excellent steaks." Rukia said cheerfully, grabbing Karin's arm and half dragging her to the restaurant.

"Listen, Karin-chan… I'm sorry you saw that. But… Did you expect us to remain celibate throughout our relationship? We've been dating for months, and Ichigo is a healthy young man. And I'm… Well, young by Soul Society standards, anyway…" Rukia said with a sheepish laugh. Karin laughed at this as well.

"How old are you, Rukia?" Karin asked. Rukia scowled.

"Don't you know never to ask a lady her age? No, it's fine. I'm 159 years old…" Rukia said with a smile. Karin gasped. She had known that Rukia was older than she looked. But she was practically robbing the cradle with her age difference from Ichigo. Or maybe he was robbing the grave, depending on one's perspective.

"Are you serious? I had no idea Shinigami could live that long… How old is that old man with the ponytail… The Captain-Commander?"

"Well, I'm not sure… At least 2,000 years old…

"He's old, even by Shinigami standards. Frankly, he was one of the previous Captain-Commander's first students, and Captain-Commander Genryusai was around 3,000 years old… Give or take a few centuries… Most Shinigami don't keep track of their age after they reach their 200th anniversary or so, so most Shinigami can only estimate their ages based on events that they remember."

"Lieutenant Kuchiki… It's an honor to have you here… Can I take your order?" The waiter asked, coming up to their table, bowing politely to Rukia and Karin. Rukia ordered first.

"I just want a cheeseburger and fries."

"I'll take the steak and potatoes, please." Karin said.

"What kind of vegetables would you like?"

"The green beans, please…"

"How would you like that cooked?" The waiter asked.

"Um… Medium, please."

"Say, aren't you Captain Kurosaki's sister?"

"Yes, I am…" Karin said tartly, clenching her teeth, not quite wanting to talk about her Ichi-nii at the moment.

"S-sorry… I'll be right back with your drinks…"

"Just water, please…" Both girls said together. Rukia had no head for alcohol, and Karin was underage, though she wasn't when she was in Soul Society.

"So, Karin-chan… How are your classes going?" Rukia asked. Karin smirked.

"Pretty well… I'm hoping to graduate within a year. Ichi-nii's help has gotten me a number of sparring partners. Between Lieutenant Kuna, Toshiro, Ichi-nii, Captain Soi Fon, and the other students, I have all the partners I need. Rukia… Who was your first crush?" Karin asked, blushing slightly. Rukia started slightly. She wasn't expecting that question.

"Well… My first crush was my Lieutenant, Kaien-dono… He… Was actually a lot like Ichigo… I was surprised when I first saw Ichigo how much he resembled Kaien, both physically and in personality. Ironically, they're actually related. Your father's last name used to be Shiba. So was Kaien's. I'm not sure what their actual relation to each other was. Thank you…" Rukia said as the waiter put their plates down. Karin began eating immediately.

"Wait… A-are you saying that you only like Ichi-nii because he reminds you of Kaien!? What the fuck!?" Karin demanded, perhaps looking for a reason right now not to like Rukia.

"Not at all. I only said that I was surprised at first at how similar they were. But Ichigo… My feelings for him go much deeper than just a crush… I love him."

"I'm sorry, Rukia… I…"

"No, no need to apologize. I love you and Yuzu as well. You two are like my sisters. How's your steak?"

"It's… Really good… Japan is well known for its steak, but none of it tasted like this… What part of the cow is this from?"

"It's spiritually charged meat. It's Filet Mignon, but it's filled with the spirit particles that suffuse Soul Society, so it's unusually tasty. The same is true of the fish here, and really all food. Our foods tend toward the extremes, and our chefs are some of the best in history. We seek out the best chefs to prepare the food in our restaurants."

"Amazing…" Karin said, taking another bite of the steak as Rukia took a small bite of her cheeseburger. She wasn't a big fan of cheeseburgers, but she was fine with it.

"Karin… Would you like to spar with me sometime? Ichigo always said that you can learn a lot about a person by fighting them. Technically, I'm not supposed to spar with students, since I could theoretically harm them. But, I think with a talented woman such as yourself, you should be fine."

"Really? Y-you… Want to spar with me? Even after I walked in on you, and accused you of what I did? I'm surprised you even want to be my friend anymore." Karin whispered. Rukia smiled.

"Not at all. Listen, I understand how you feel. With Kaien, I was incredibly jealous of his wife. She was so beautiful and talented, and I wanted Kaien myself. My jealousy was… Unseemly, or so my Nii-sama said. But, I couldn't help it. So, I understand your feelings.

"Maybe someday, we can be friends."

"We are friends… I've known you for what? Two years? Three years? Yuzu would be ecstatic if you became our sister. I don't know how she's doing with her Quincy training. I'm doing alright, training under Ichi-nii and Ishida-san when I go to Earth occasionally. But Yuzu has a lot more time, and doesn't have the Shinigami powers to distract her. Yuzu-chan was always the intelligent one of the two of us.

"I would like to spar with you… Maybe tonight?"

"Not tonight. Too late. Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow is a day off for the Shin'o Academy. It's a perfect day."

"Deal."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

When Karin had agreed to spar with Rukia that day, she had forgotten that she had her test. So, she was naturally surprised when the teacher came up to her room to bring her down, saying that she was late. She wasn't in trouble. But everyone was waiting, including Ichigo, who had taken a day off from work to watch the test. Karin gasped when she saw him out in the audience. He smiled when he saw her staring at him. He hoped he wasn't embarrassing her by being there. He didn't want to miss her promotion.

"Today, we are here to test Kurosaki Karin to see if she is ready to advance. If she passes, she will advance two grade levels. She will be tested on all four combat styles; Hakuda, Hoho, Zanjutsu, and Kido. If she succeeds at all four, she will advance. If not, she will remain in her current year. Her score will determine whether she moves up one or two years. Hajime!" The instructor announced. Suddenly, someone poked Ichigo in the side.

"Hey, Captain Kurosaki! A pool is going around."

"A pool?" Ichigo whispered.

"A betting pool. Odds are 100 to 1 that she passes. You wanna throw in your two Kan, so to speak?"

"Get out of my face! No… I bet 75,000 Kan that Karin advances two grades."

"Hmmm… A risky gambler, I like that. I respect that."

"Great, good. Shut up, and let me watch."

 _"Karin…"_ Ichigo said telepathically. _"I believe in you."_ He finished. Karin's nerves steeled. She wasn't nervous anymore about Ichigo watching. She was still nervous about failing. But that paled in comparison.

"First we will test her skill in Zanjutsu, though she is welcome to use other forms of combat, and is encouraged to if the situation calls for it." The instructor declared. Karin and her opponent bowed to each other, and waited for the instructor to tell them to start. When he did, Karin, made a quick strike against her opponent, who was an upperclassman that she recognized vaguely. He was much larger than her, and was known for using a lot of strength in his attacks.

After her quick strike, she ducked, seeming to predict his attack, which was a wide sweep, and kicked at his ankles, unbalancing him before striking again, and being blocked again, less surely this time, though. This time, however, Karin moved less quickly, and was almost struck with her opponent's sword. She managed to cartwheel out of the way in time, but seemed shaken. For a moment, she couldn't think of what to do, so she merely dodged his attacks while she gathered her wits.

Finally, she found that the room wasn't spinning anymore, and she ran up to him, dodging his attack and kicking his sword out of the way before jumping over it, twisting in the air, and kicking him in the back of the head, sending him tumbling head over heels, landing gracefully, and putting her sword at her waist again.

She went two more rounds with him, and lost one round because she was not focusing due to her pride at defeating him in the first round so easily. However, in the third round, she rushed him, leaping over him in a flip and a twirl above his head, landing and striking him hard with her sword, easily winning the third round. Ichigo was amazed at how much Karin had improved over these past few months.

"Well done, Kurosaki Karin. You receive 8 points. You defeated him with grace and style, but sacrificed efficiency in favor of an overly showy style, and were complacent in the second round, and lost because of it. Nonetheless, you have passed." The proctor and instructor said to loud cheers from the audience, though, given the fact that most of them were betting against her, many weren't sure how well to wish her. Her speed was her greatest asset, and if someone could use that against her

"The second test is Hakuda. First, she will go through numerous standalone attacks and kata. Then, she will engage in unarmed combat." Karin resolved not to show off as much. Ichi-nii might be there, but she had to work efficiently and effectively, lest she fail the test. She went through the Kata, showing exceptional grace that even impressed Rukia, and finally, it was time for the sparring.

A different opponent walked out. This one was much less bulky, thin and angular in appearance, his fingers occasionally twitching, his violet eyes narrowing as he approached the floor. Karin sighed. She was much less confident, now. She had seen him defeat three opponents at once, though, if she was to advance two grade levels, it only made sense that she should be able to defeat him. He was one of the finest students in his grade level.

"Now, Kurosaki Karin will do combat with Yamazaki Timofei." The proctor said. Timofei took an unusual stance, suggesting a style that Ichigo didn't see very often. Capoeira. He had heard a little bit about Timofei. He was almost ready to graduate, and would likely take a seated position immediately after graduation. He wasn't sure Karin could beat him. But, naturally, he would cheer for her. Rukia was sitting right next to him, her breath caught in her chest.

"This will be a good fight." Rukia whispered, eyes wide with anticipation.

"San… Ni… Ichi… Hajime!" The instructor said. Karin hesitated for a moment, scoping Timofei out, and making sure that she wouldn't be caught by surprise. After a moment, she moved in, and was almost immediately tripped by a spinning kick that seemed more like a dance move. Timofei leapt up off his hand, landing next to Karin, punching down and just barely missing her.

Karin rolled to the side and righted herself, chopping at Timofei's leg, unbalancing him, kicking at his chest, but being deflected. Ichigo was amazed. Nobody in the school that he had yet seen showed as much promise as Karin. Suddenly, Karin retreated briefly, grabbing a football* out of her gi, and kicking it at Timofei, hitting him right in the head, dazing him rather severely, running in and punching him in the stomach, sending him to the floor.

The proctor called the match, and then went to the other proctors, who discussed it for a few minutes, seeming to be caught up on something. Finally, he stood full height and announced.

"Kurosaki-san wins the first round. While the football was not exactly traditional, it was a good distraction, though perhaps more suited for an acrobatics show. Second round commence."

As soon as he said commence, Karin cartwheeled to the side and swept at Timofei's legs again. Timofei jumped and tried to kick Karin in the chin, but missed. Karin was much more on her toes in this match. This went on for a few more seconds until Karin grabbed Timofei's leg, and slammed him in the chest, winning the second round.

"Kurosaki-san passes the Hakuda test. As she is not a high enough level Shinigami to manage Shunpo, she will not be tested on such. So the only test left is Kido. She will be asked to perform the highest level Kido she can, with or without incantation. You may begin. Fire at the target."

Karin nodded, and began incanting Hado #1. After thirty minutes, she was feeling a little tired, but kept going.

"Master of Turbulence. Lord of Chaos. Fire ye upon this earth and reduce all to ashes. Turn to sludge and destroy all creation! Hado # 32. Okasen." Karin incanted, swiping her arm and sending a yellow arc at the target and very nearly disintegrating it. Karin gasped for breath, feeling her whole world spinning around her.

She had overexerted herself. But she knew more, and she wasn't ready to quit yet.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado #33 Sokatsui." She called, sending the blue fire at the new target. This one wasn't nearly as powerful, and completely exhausted her.

She felt totally spent, the last vestiges of her energy leaving her, and collapsing on the floor. Ichigo was about to jump in and help her, but Rukia stopped him, as an instructor walked over to her, checking her vital signs to make sure that she didn't injure herself too seriously, then called for some members of Fourth Division to come collect her.

"Very well. The test is over. We will collaborate and discuss whether she passed." The instructor said, retreating to the panel, and discussing with the other proctors, who all seemed impressed with her skill. After almost thirty minutes of discussing, the judges parted and the head proctor announced that Karin had advanced two grade levels. Ichigo watched with smug satisfaction the gambling pool man's face fall. He realized how very much money he had just lost.

On the other hand, Ichigo had just won 7.5 million Kan, assuming the gambling man had that money.

"Hey, Captain. I'll get you your money in a week."

"Sure… Whatever…" Ichigo said dismissively. Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"You bet on the outcome of the match?" She asked. Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah. I bet that Karin would advance two grade levels, and won 7.5 million Kan out of the deal.

"Excuse me. I need to go congratulate Karin. I'll be right back." Ichigo said. Rukia nodded.

"Take all the time you need." Rukia said, heading out to finish some paperwork while Ichigo headed to the infirmary to wait for Karin to wake up. Kataguchi, the new captain of Fourth Division said it might be a while, but Ichigo had the whole day off, so he wasn't in a hurry.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"Kensei! Kensei!" Mashiro yelled, banging on Kensei's door, seeming quite cheerful. Kensei sighed, and walked out. He had been avoiding her as much as possible lately to avoid making the same mistake he almost made last time, that he would have made had his subordinates not interrupted. He had almost had sex with his lieutenant… With Mashiro… The one who had driven him crazy for centuries. Had he just been feeling sexual frustration for all those years?

Had he secretly, even to himself, wanted her all that time? She just kept knocking, though, and it didn't seem like she was prepared to leave. He had been waiting in his office for ten minutes, and she was still banging down the door.

"Mashiro knows Kensei is in therrrree!" Mashiro called. "She can hear his breathing! She can hear him gritting his tee-eeth!" She continued.

Kensei sighed and opened his door, fixing Mashiro with his meanest, angriest glare.

" _WHAT!?_ _What_ do you want, Mashiro!?" Kensei demanded, hissing angrily at the unseated officer whose eyes were drawn to the scene. The officer stiffened and ran off.

"Mashiro wanted Kensei to… _do that_ … With her again." She whispered, her eyes glazing over with lust as she leaned in to kiss Kensei, who shoved her away more violently than he had intended to.

Mashiro leapt back and was immediately back on top of Kensei.

"Come on, Kensei! You weren't like this last time…" Mashiro complained. Kensei sighed and pulled Mashiro into his office, locking the door and putting a Bakudo on it so that nobody could get in.

"Mashiro… You're right… I-I… Wanted it so badly last time… I still do. But I can't _make_ that mistake again!"

"M-Mashiro was… A mistake?" Mashiro asked, seeming heartbroken at this exclamation from Kensei.

"Yes! No! I-I don't know! I… Wasn't supposed to lose control like that!"

"Ahahaha! Silly Kensei! Love isn't about being in control! It's about being happy!"

"Wow… That's the first thing you've said that made sense in… Well, 200 years."

"Waaah! Kensei, you big meanie!" Mashiro whined, embracing Kensei tightly and kissing him passionately on the lips, her hand immediately going down to his crotch.

"Ahaha! Kensei is so naughty! He's been hard all this time, hasn't he?" Mashiro asked, Kissing Kensei's penis through his pants, causing Kensei to twitch slightly. He pulled down his pants with one hand and grabbed Mashiro's head with the other, forcing his penis slowly into her mouth.

"Now, blow me… This was what you wanted, right?" Kensei growled. Mashiro nodded, tears caught between fear and joy coming to her eyes. As she bobbed her head up and down on his shaft, occasionally licking the tip, kissing it for good measure, all the while masturbating herself as she did it, moaning in ecstasy until he, shoving his penis partway down her throat, ejaculated, causing Mashiro to cough and gag. This woke Kensei up to what he had been doing.

"Mashiro-chan… I'm sorry…"

 _Mashiro-_ _ **chan**_ _? When the hell have I ever called her that? I'm going soft in the head, without a doubt… Ugh, I know there's no retirement from this job, but I need a vacation._

"No… Th-that was… Amazing! Kensei-kun is so powerful… Keep dominating Mashiro." Mashiro gasped, her chest heaving, caught between catching her breath and the intense pleasure she was feeling.

So that was Mashiro's thing? As much as she liked being free to do what she wanted, as much as she was kind of scatterbrained and had her head in the clouds, she enjoyed being dominated? Everyone had their own thing. Who was Kensei to judge?

It just didn't seem like her. But he was sort of enjoying actually being obeyed by her for once.

"Stand up." Kensei demanded. Mashiro rushed to her feet, standing at attention, still masturbating vigorously, moaning and sighing in pleasure.

"Stop masturbating. Give me your hands." Kensei ordered, grabbing Mashiro's hand and pulling her over to the bed, pushing her onto the bed, standing in front of her.

"Good. Take off your clothes." Kensei said demandingly. Mashiro nodded, removing her gi and pants, and throwing them on the floor before removing her bra and panties as well, lying there naked for Kensei, waiting for him to ravage her as she had been fantasizing about for weeks, now.

The captain got on top of Mashiro, gently rubbing her, kissing her soft, pink lips. He had almost lost her twice in the past. Once when they were fighting that childish Arrancar… Well, even more childish than Mashiro, and once when they were fighting the Sternritter. He never wanted to lose her again.

"I love you, Mashiro…" Kensei whispered, gently prodding her pussy,

"A-ahh… Ahhh!" Mashiro cried as, on the final prod, Kensei released a concentrated burst of reishi, causing Mashiro to explode, screaming out her orgasm.

"Mmmm…" She moaned as she rode out the rest of it, gasping for breath.

"Oh, Kensei! That was… Amazing!" Mashiro moaned, her vision still swimming slightly. Kensei merely smirked though, staying on top of Mashiro.

"We're not done yet." Kensei growled, pulling his gi off and kissing Mashiro passionately, slowly pushing into her, groaning in unexpected pleasure at how tight she was, Mashiro breathing deeply, trying not to cum right away, her nails digging into Kensei's back, crying out in ecstasy with each thrust.

Kensei was feeling the same at the moment. It felt so incredible. He was wondering… Had he always been in love with Mashiro? As much as she annoyed him, as obnoxious as she could be, she never annoyed the rest of the Vizard like she annoyed him, or rather, her behaviour wasn't as annoying to them as it was to him. Maybe it was a sign that he should have taken long ago.

Kensei thrust slowly, wanting the moment to last as long as possible for both of them. Even the feeling of Mashiro's nails digging into his back was ecstatic. He thrust harder this time, releasing blasts of reishi unintentionally, only partially keeping control of his spiritual power to the point that the pressure in the room seemed to flux between very high and very low at points. Even people outside were beginning to notice, and get concerned about the captain's welfare.

Finally, Kensei couldn't hold it anymore, grunting as he thrust a few more times, releasing inside of Mashiro, whose own orgasm, if anything, was even more intense as the lieutenant screamed out, her fingers digging into Kensei's back, drawing blood. Finally, Kensei pulled out, breathing heavily for a few moments before catching his breath. Upon coming back to himself, he started realizing that he was feeling a bit cold. He had used up more reishi than he had intended.

Rather than releasing occasional bursts to enhance Mashiro's experience as well as his own, he seemed to have been blasting reishi almost constantly. Now, he needed rest badly, collapsing next to Mashiro, his last waking thought being to make sure that he didn't crush Mashiro underneath him as he fell asleep. Mashiro smiled happily, pulling the blankets up over them, and rolling over, falling asleep in her beloved's arms.

"Hey, has anyone seen the captain recently?" A young member of Ninth Division asked. The other member shook her head.

"No. Or his lieutenant. The way they always bicker, they might have killed each other, though." She mentioned. The two laughed, and went about their business.

"Hey… Have either of you seen Mashiro… Um, Lieutenant Kuna?"

"No, sir. We were sort of wondering where they were as well."

"It's not a problem. I need to see her to ask about whether she planned to train with Karin today. I can get someone else to instead, probably." Ichigo said, heading out. He could train with her, himself. He didn't have anything else to do that day.

Karin was feeling better, and she wanted to start training again. Ichigo was actually kind of glad that Mashiro wasn't around. He felt almost certain that Mashiro had no ability to limit her strength. He was sure that, as lithe and acrobatic as Karin was, she would get hurt in her weakened state against a foe like Mashiro. So he headed to the school, grabbing a bokken and a wakizashi bokken, heading to Karin's dorm.

"Hey, Karin. Oh… Um… Um…" Ichigo said, snapping his fingers, trying to remember the new girl's name. "Crap. Himura-san… Damn, I'm usually pretty good with names. Is Karin here?"

"Captain Kurosaki-dono…" She said, bowing politely, grabbing at her glasses, barely catching them before they slipped off her nose. Ichigo sighed. He had noticed this in the past.

"Here, Himura-san." Ichigo said, handing Himura a string with rubber hooks on the ends.

"Please, call me Alice. What is this?" The girl said in a distinctly English accent. If she was faking it, it was an excellent imitation. Ichigo had only heard an English accent once in his life when a person from London came to teach English at his middle school, and Alice sounded just as authentic.

"It's a rope to hook on the ends of your glasses. That way they won't hit the floor if they fall off your face, as they seem to do fairly often."

"Oh! Thank you, Captain Kurosaki-dono! This is really nice.

"So this'll stop my glasses from falling?"

"Yeah… Oh, and don't call me –dono. Do you know where Karin is?"

"Yeah. She said she went down to the dojo. Why do you ask, Captain?" Alice asked. Ichigo turned and started heading down.

"I promised I'd spar with her today." He said, just as he got out of hearing range.

"Hm… They're such great siblings. I'm actually kind of jealous." Alice said happily as Ichigo went into Flash Step speed, getting down to the dojo and finding that he must have passed Karin on the way, because moments later, Karin walked in.

"Hey, Ichi-nii. Did you find Lieutenant Kuna?"

"No. I looked all over the place, and went to the Division Nine barracks. She wasn't in any of the places I looked, so I'm going to be your partner today." Ichigo said. Karin seemed excited about this, grabbing her bokken and going into a ready stance to fight Ichigo. Ichigo put the wakizashi away. He didn't want to overwhelm Karin, especially when she was still convalescing. He stood at the ready, too, waiting for Karin to attack.

For a moment, the two of them stood there, sizing each other up. After a moment, though, Karin slashed the air, sending a blast of pressure at Ichigo, who dodged, and blocked Karin's next strike as she closed on him, jumping and pushing off her hand, spinning upside down in the air and swinging at Ichigo. He dodged under the next strike and thrust with his hand, striking Karin in the stomach, hard enough to send her flying but lightly enough to not harm her unduly.

Karin twisted midair and slid across the room, righting herself and preparing to fight again. She was beginning to get out of breath, though. She ran at Ichigo, seeming to disappear mid-charge, and appeared behind Ichigo, who spun and blocked, pushing back with his sword and pushing Karin away. This time, she wasn't able to right herself, attempting, but tripping over her own legs and falling on the ground.

"Karin! Are you alright?" Ichigo asked, hurrying over to her.

"I'm fine!" Karin snapped. "Stop taking it easy on me, damnit!"

"Karin, you shouldn't be sparring at all! Kinoshita said to take it easy for two weeks! It hasn't even been one! I shouldn't have agreed to spar with you. Listen, Karin… I admire your passion and your drive.

"I did what you're doing right now a lot. I refused to wait and heal before I started training again. I fought battles that I knew I couldn't win, and would most likely die in. But… Well…"

"You're going to tell me that I don't have the same expectations on me as you did. That you needed to save lives and fight for the fate of worlds, and that I'm just going to hurt myself for nothing, right?"

"No. I won't tell you to stop training. I won't even force you to go back to your room and see you into bed. I know I can't convince you to stop. I know because you're just like me. If I wouldn't have stopped training, why should I think that you will? But I'm not going to encourage it. You'll have to train on your own or find someone else to train with you." Ichigo said. He wasn't angry, nor was he being condescending or at least not intending to be.

"Just firm. He knew that their father would never forgive him if he allowed his sister to get hurt on his watch. He also wouldn't forgive himself.

"Ichi-nii… I-I guess I'll just go get some rest, then. If I got hurt, I'd have to take more time off from training." Karin said, seeming upset. Ichigo put a hand on Karin's shoulder, hugging her tightly. Karin gasped. He was never this affectionate, especially in public.

"Karin… I think you made the right choice. I can take you back up to your room if you like." Ichigo said. Karin sighed.

"Thanks." She said putting her sword away and heading out. Ichigo threw his back and followed her back up to the room, where she opened the door and headed in with Ichigo.

"Karin, this room is a mess! Is this stuff yours?"

"Um, no, Captain Kurosaki… Most of it is mine. Kurosaki-san is actually surprisingly tidy." Alice said politely. Ichigo sighed.

"Well, see you two later, then. Karin, I hope you feel better soon… Himura-san, nice to see you again." Ichigo said, walking out of the room.

"Kurosaki-san… Your brother is very handsome."

"God, don't remind me…" Karin muttered helplessly, flopping down on her bed, groaning.

"Kurosaki-san, are you… By any chance… In love with your brother?" Alice asked, sitting down and writing furiously, handing Karin a sheet of paper.

"What the hell is this?"

"A plan to win your brother's heart. Incest isn't my thing, she said quietly. "But it's not my place to judge." She said in her pleasant English accent. Karin shook her head, ripping up the page.

"It's brilliant. It takes everything into account."

"But… You can't bring yourself to do it?" Alice asked. Karin nodded. "Rukia and Ichigo are really happy together, and I'm happy with Toshiro. Ichi-nii may have been my first love, but Toshiro is really nice, and although he's a little bit grumpy, and super serious, he's really kind. Back when I was a human, he took time out of his schedule to help me win a silly little soccer game. He didn't have to. But he saw me get hurt, and wanted to help.

"And, well… He's a really good person. I like him… As important as Ichi-nii is to me, I need to get past my infatuation with him."

"Oh, you needn't convince me. I respect your decision. Besides, my 'plan' was all a lot of hot air. If you had paid attention to it in anything more than a passing respect, you would have realized that while it passes rudimentary inspection, it fails the most basic tests of practicality.

"It's simply far too convoluted to be implementable by simple academy students with no real contacts outside the ones you may have as a result of your brother's position." Alice said with a proud smirk. Karin actually laughed at this.

"You were just testing me, weren't you?" The young Shinigami to be asked. Alice looked at Karin innocently, shaking her head.

"No, no… Well, in a way… Perhaps a little bit. I trusted you to make the right decision. I wanted simply to see if you were worthy of that trust." Alice replied.

"But your brother probably brought you up here so you could get some rest.

"You did run dangerously low on reishi less than a week ago. Get some sleep. I'll head on out for a while. See you later, Kurosaki-san…" Alice said cheerfully, putting on her sandals and running out of the room, locking the door behind her. Karin sighed in relief.

She fell down on her bed, pulling up the covers and falling asleep almost immediately, taking a long nap.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Karin was usually a light sleeper, but she didn't even wake up when Alice came back into the room, and started doing her written homework. By the time she woke up, it was getting on in the afternoon. She looked at the clock, gasping at how late it was. It was almost 4:00. She had been sleeping for 3½ hours. She looked at Alice, who smiled politely.

"Hello, sleepyhead. Glad you're awake. You were having quite a dream. I'm not sure what it was about, but it seemed quite energetic. You were gasping and moaning. I'm not sure I want to hazard a guess as to what your dream was about." Alice said politely. Karin blushed deeply, remembering that she was dreaming about sleeping with Ichigo. She was about to get out of bed, but felt that her panties were soaked.

 _Ew. Even I didn't think I was that perverted. Damnit. I can't get out of bed looking like this. I can't let Alice see me like this._

"Don't worry, Karin… I know about the state of your panties. I can smell it, you know. I was what they called a supersmeller in the human world… Or so I suspect. Funny enough I can't really remember my human life. Is that typical?"

"It's almost unheard of for spirits to remember their human lives. A one in a ten billion chance of having even remote memories, really."

"But then, how do you remember?" Alice asked. Karin sighed.

"Well… I'm not exactly a typical soul. I… Wasn't dead when I first came to Soul Society. My brother was a Shinigami Substitute in a sense, and recently, he was told that his talents were needed in Seireitei. I decided to follow him, and fortunately, he didn't turn me away. So, now I'm in training to be a Shinigami, while he is a Shinigami captain."

"So, does that mean that you both have your memories from the human world? What's it like?" Alice asked, not insisting that Karin got up, respecting her privacy.

"Well… I'm not so sure about the entire world. But Karakura Town is almost always busy, at least during the day. It's not as busy at night. I used to enjoy walking around at night when it was quiet.

"Everything is covered in concrete in Karakura, but there are parks and cemetaries where there's grass. Kids go to school five days a week where they learn what they'll need to get by in the real world. There's a game called Soccer."

"Soccer? Why do they call it that?"

"I'm not sure. Most countries call it football, actually, but Americans call it Soccer because they have a game they call Football where the players don't kick the ball. They carry it."

"I'm not sure I understand. You're American?"

"No. Japanese."

"Then why do you call it Soccer?"

"I guess I had an American friend when I was younger who called it Soccer. So I always called it Soccer." Karin said. Alice nodded.

"Well, I won't disturb you any further."

"You can stay if you want, but I'm still exhausted." Karin replied. Alice nodded.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was walking once more into the 12th Division barracks. He couldn't stand Kurotsuchi, but he had made something once that intrigued Ichigo. That eyepatch that Kenpachi wore that ate the majority of his Reiryoku. This enhanced his spiritual power over time, and not that Ichigo needed it, but one could never have too much Reiryoku. As he turned into the Research and Development barracks, he saw Rin and the rest of the researchers typing away at their computers.

"Hey, can I talk to Kurotsuchi?"

"Of course, Captain Kurosaki!" Rin said hurriedly, running into the back and talking to his captain. After a few minutes, Kurotsuchi stormed out angrily.

"What do you want? I'm in the middle of an experiment!"

"Sorry… I just wondered if you have any wristband versions of Zaraki's eyepatch."

"Ahh! You know, I may have just the thing. They do say that there's no such thing as too much Reishi. If you take it off, you may need some time to adjust to the sudden increase in power. I advise meditation and reiatsu training to sharpen and solidify your reiatsu. But if you really want to continue enhancing your reiatsu, here…" Kurotsuchi said, disappearing for a moment and returning with a pair of wristbands.

They had the same symbol as the Substitute Soul Reaper badge that Ukitake gave Ichigo had. He took it and put it on, immediately feeling the drain on his Reiryoku. Kurotsuchi snickered.

"I see you're already feeling the drain. Between the two of them, they cut off about 50% of your Reiryoku, and together, they weigh approximately 50 pounds to start with and will become progressively heavier as you become stronger. They act on both your arms and your legs.

"Remember that to lift your arms with the extra weight requires not only physical strength, but reiryoku as well. This forces you to use both at the same time, enhancing both in a commensurate amount. Kenpachi Zaraki has never had what I would call great control of his reiatsu. However, his physical strength is great enough that even with the extra 1,250 pounds on each arm and foot, he's able to lift it with just his physical strength.

"That monster will never die. You do want to be careful, and remove the wristbands if you ever feel dizzy due to loss or reiryoku. For you, it will probably take a long time, I've never seen a person so naturally gifted with reishi. However, even you, even Zaraki can become drained. If that happens, though, remove them. This will return your full Reiryoku to you so that you are not in danger of dying.

"I have never seen a situation where Kenpachi Zaraki was weak enough that he could have been killed by this, mainly because, if he meets such a worthy opponent, he takes it off. When you take it off, it… Regurgitates the Reishi that it has eaten back into you, and you will see the full effects of the enhanced power, including your enhanced strength. He attained Bankai back during the Quincy invasion. He so rarely has to use it that it's almost unnecessary. But now that he has it, he's a positive force of nature."

"He was a force of nature to begin with. Thanks for the wristbands. Do I owe you anything?"

"Oh, of course not. The band is imbued with a Reiryoku monitor. It will send data to me so that I can remain apprised of your growth. It will be very informative for me to see what your growth is like now that I can observe you in action. In retrospect, I should have given you one of these when I first met you three years ago when you first came to Seireitei to rescue Miss Kuchiki."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the wristbands. I'll see you later…" Ichigo said, privately hoping that it would be a long time. As he was walking, he was accosted rather noisily by the new Third Seat of 11th Division. Ever since he had recruited Ikkaku for his lieutenant. Noa Washimine… Ichigo had only met her once before. She was easily powerful enough to be a lieutenant. But she seemed to have no ambition for such a seat. She had a fierce gaze with sharp orange eyes and deep blue hair.

She looked like she had chipped a tooth at one point, too, since she had a sharpened tooth in the corner of her mouth that led her to speak with a pronounced lisp. Ichigo kind of got the feeling she didn't like him much, but she was always happy to spar with him. She had proven that she could block a sword strike with her bare arm, hardening her reiryoku to the point that it was almost impossible to cut her.

She was much less demonstrably muscular than Kenpachi, but physically powerful like him. She had a very direct manner of speaking, also, often pointing or using other hand gestures to indicate someone. But Kami help anyone who called her unfeminine. She preferred to keep her hair long, finding it more feminine than short hair, but she kept it in a ponytail so that it didn't get in her way.

"Hey!" She shouted, pointing at Ichigo with her still sheathed sword.

"Oh, hello, Washimine-san. How are you today?"

"I di'nt call you out so we could chat! I challenge you! Spar with me!"

"Oh, sure… Right now?"

"Ain't no other time!" She shouted, seeming to have no indoor voice. There was only loud and louder for her. Ichigo sighed, and followed her to the 11th Division dojo, taking out two bokken, holding them up, ready to spar.

"You can use those sticks if you like. I'm just using my fists!" She shouted. Ichigo had seen her shikai. Her sword turned into spiked steel gloves. She was a pugilist first and last.

She put her fists up, ready to fight at any time. Ichigo shrugged and threw his bokken back into the box, putting his fists up as well, moving in cautiously, and striking. He had never gotten the feeling that she liked him very much. But she enjoyed fighting him. He was blocked by her left arm and countered by a heavy kick, which he blocked, and flipped backwards to mitigate the damage. He had been taking some acrobatics lessons from Mashiro, and had a much more fluid style of fighting, now.

Ichigo cartwheeled back, feeling a little stupid, but knowing it was necessary to be ready for anything, and leapt up, flipping in the air, and pushing off the ceiling, rolling from the floor into a standing position, doing a tornado kick as soon as he was within range, immediately punching her and sending her flying into the wall. As she stood up, Ichigo could see that she was laughing.

"See? This is why I like you… You never fail to surprise me!" She laughed, closing in for another strike, hitting Ichigo's arm, sending a shockwave up it, leaving it completely numb. Ichigo's hand twisted and he grabbed Noa's wrist, locking it to her side, and punching her hard in the face, sending her to the ground with a broken nose.

"Oh, you bastard! But that wash a good fight!" She said, shaking Ichigo's hand vigorously, squeezing tighter than she really needed to. Ichigo grimaced at how strong her grip was.

"You should consider sparring with me more often, friend!"

"You know, I always assumed you hated me."

"Well, y'know what they say about assumptions! Makes an ass outta you an' me! Anyway, why'd you assume I hate ya? That's not very nice!"

"Oh, well… Um…"

"Asides… Yer kinda cute. Maybe we could make a date of this next time."

"I'm dating Rukia… You know that."

"Lieutenant Kuchiki? She's a cutie, too. Lucky guy. Well, ya' wanna take a walk, then?"

"I guess so. So, do you use anything other than your fists? I've seen you punch a Menos' face in, but are you skilled with any other weapons?"

"Yes. My whole body is a weapon. I have very little skill with a sword.

"In Zaraki, we had to fight for everything. I learned to use just about anything as a weapon, but my fists and feet were better than trying to find a metal rod or a rock to fight with. So, I taught myself. When I made it into the Shin'o Academy, I began training in multiple martial arts. Mainly Capoeira, Taekwondo and Hapkido. They trained me in swordsmanship, and I sort of took to it, but I was always better with my bare hands." Washimine said. Ichigo nodded.

"I see… So, you learned to specialize in barehanded fighting to protect yourself and your friends."

"Friends? I had no friends. It's nice that I have friends, now, but I didn't have the luxury back then. I had some people that I charged to defend them. I was essentially the local bodyguard for those who could afford me or who could do something for me in exchange. But friends were a leisure I couldn't afford."

"Hmm… I have to get going, though."

"Wait! What are those wristbands?" Washimine asked. Ichigo turned around.

"They drain my Reiryoku and weigh me down to strengthen me both physically and spiritually. It's like Kenpachi's eyepatch, but in wristband form."

"You mean Ken's always carrying extra weight?"

"Yeah, about 5,000 pounds on altogether."

"Holy shit! You mean he carries upwards of 5,000 pounds on top of his own weight? How does he not get crushed?" Noa exclaimed. Kenpachi seemed to hear that.

"I'm carrying 5,000 pounds? I never realized. How is that happening?"

"Your damn eyepatch! It adds 5,000 pounds to your body… Or 1,250 pounds on each arm and leg! You really never noticed all that weight!?"

"Nope…" Kenpachi said simply with a wide, wild smirk. "Why would I? It's not that much weight." Kenpachi grinned wildly. Ichigo groaned.

"E-excuse me, Captain Kurosaki? Ah! Captain Zaraki, Third Seat Washimine!" a woman said, bowing politely to the three of them.

"Yes… Um… Akiyama, right?"

"Yes, sir… A young human lady with sandy brown hair is in the Division Eight Barracks. She says she's your sister, but she doesn't look very much like you… Sir…"

"Thank you, Akiyama… I have to go, Kenpachi, Washimine…" Ichigo said, hurrying off.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"Yuzu? It's great to see you again…" Ichigo said, smiling brightly at his younger sister as he walked in. Yuzu seemed excited about something.

"Ichigo! I've been working on my abilities with Ishida-san! He said he would teach me Quincy powers… Though, I suspect he's only doing it to annoy Dad."

"So, you've learned to be a Quincy?" Ichigo asked. Yuzu nodded, taking a deep breath, and manifesting a bow.

"My archery skills are still a little iffy, but I'm getting there. Ishida-san says that I'm pretty good. He has an entire exercise regime for me. I'm exhausted these days, but he says that I'll get over it. He also says that my reiatsu control is good."

"That's great. Quincies need a great deal of reiatsu control. Uryu always… Damnit… That asshole may have been a traitor, but I miss him…" Ichigo muttered angrily. "Damn you, Uryu… Why'd you have to turn on us!" He demanded. Yuzu hugged Ichigo tightly.

"C'mon, Nii-san… Wouldn't Quincies go to Soul Society as well?" Yuzu asked. Ichigo's eyes lit up.

"You're right! Normally, they would probably go to Ywach's soul. Quincies all contain slivers of Ywach's soul. But, since Ywach is dead, they might go to Soul Society!" He shouted, seeming really happy about this. But what would he say to Uryu? Would Uryu remember him? Or would Ichigo just be a Shinigami captain to him.

"Yuzu!" Karin shouted, running in, hugging Yuzu.

"Karin-chan! It's good to see you again! How is school going!?" Yuzu asked. Karin smiled.

"It's going pretty well. I just recently moved to the top of my class. I moved up two years in school. I hope I don't fall behind now. But I've got Toshiro to help me. He's working with me on weekends… Probably not his idea of a date, but he's been pretty good about it."

"Karin-chan! You have a boyfriend!? That's great! Do I get to meet him?" Yuzu gushed. Karin sighed.

"I guess I could introduce you to him. In a bit."

"Hey, Nii-chan! How is your job going?"

"Pretty well. It's a lot of work."

"I thought it might be. How's Rukia nee-chan doing?" Yuzu asked. Ichigo smiled.

"She's doing pretty good. I hear she's being considered to be a captain, herself."

"Really? That's great!" Yuzu exclaimed. Ichigo nodded.

"I'm nervous about her becoming a captain. She's got more than enough talent, but I'd be worried that she'll get hurt."

"Fool! You're the one we always need to be worried about! Your tendency to get yourself into sticky situations is almost legendary in Soul Society! I'll be fine! Captain or Lieutenant or whatever!" Ichigo sighed at this.

"I know. I love you, though, so naturally I worry about you." He said quietly. Rukia was honestly touched by this profession of affection for her.

"I… Y-you still don't need to worry about me. I've been approached by the Captain-Commander about becoming Captain of Third Squad. I'm not sure I'm interested, though." She said, turning to Yuzu, smiling happily about seeing her again.

"It's nice to finally see you again, Yuzu. Karin, you too. How is the Academy going?" Rukia asked. Karin scowled.

"It's actually going great. I've heard that I might graduate within a year. My training with all of you has been really helpful. I'm actually pretty excited." Karin said brightly. After a moment, a young man about Yuzu and Karin's age came in… Well, he looked about the same age. It was impossible to tell for sure when people aged so slowly in Soul Society.

"Excuse me, Miss Kurosaki?"

"Yes?" Karin and Yuzu both said at the same time.

"Karin Kurosaki…" He said, looking at the piece of paper. He was a slender young man, standing about 5'5" and looking like he weighed about 120 pounds. He had black hair and green eyes, and was carrying a pair of kerambits with him. Ichigo sensed a strange presence coming from him. His Reiatsu was darker, more oppressive than most.

He clearly wasn't a Hollow, or a Vizard, but his Reiatsu was deathlike in appearance. He was a little bit intimidating, even to Ichigo.

"What do you want with Karin?" Ichigo asked, clenching his fist.

"O-oh, Captain Kurosaki! Um… I was sent here by Captain Soi Fon to ask if Miss Kurosaki was going to be training with her today."

"Oh… Um… M-my sister just came by from the Human World. Tell Soi Fon I'm sorry."

"Of course, Miss Kurosaki…"

"And _stop_ calling me Miss Kurosaki! Just call me Karin, damnit!" Karin snapped. The young man nodded, and seemed to disappear in a flash. Karin sighed. Soi Fon was going to be annoyed with her later when she came to her next training session.

"Hey, Nii-san… Can we walk around the Soul Society?" Yuzu asked excitedly. Ichigo nodded, looking at Rukia, who smiled, seeming happy that Yuzu was so excited.  
"Sure… Was there somewhere in particular that you wanted to see?" Ichigo asked. Yuzu shook her head.

"Just, anywhere you think is a good place to go."

"Well… I need to head over to the Division 2 Barracks." Karin said. "Captain Soi Fon is probably pretty annoyed that I didn't call ahead to cancel. "I could have been spending my afternoon with Ms. Yoruichi!" She'll mutter, and then probably end up abusing her lieutenant a bit."

Ichigo laughed at this. Karin did a pretty good impression of Soi Fon.

"Well, we'll start there then." Ichigo said, putting his sandals on and going out the door with Rukia, Karin and Yuzu in tow. Yuzu seemed impressed by things in Soul Society that Ichigo had long since just gotten used to. After they had been walking for about ten minutes, they ran into Kenpachi, who grinned maniacally at Ichigo.

"Hey, Ichigo… Ya wanna spar with me!?" He asked. Ichigo smiled nervously.

"I can't. I'm showing my sister around. This is Yuzu."

"Hello, Kenpachi-san." Yuzu said, bowing politely. She didn't seem scared at all, despite Kenpachi's very intimidating appearance. Kenpachi looked down at her, leaning over and smelling her.

"You smell like that black haired glasses guy… You a Quincy?" He asked. Yuzu squirmed nervously. She had never had someone smell her, much less someone as large and frankly frightening as Kenpachi.

"Um… Um… Y-yes… I-I am… I'm not sure why I smell like… The man you mentioned… But maybe it's my Reiatsu… Quincies have a very distinct Reiatsu."

"Mm… Maybe we could fight sometime… That Quincy kid was tougher than he looked. He was skinny like a pencil, but he worked for that Ywach guy, so he couldn't have been weak. Maybe you'll gimme a good fight." Kenpachi laughed. Yuzu smiled nervously.

"I… Appreciate it, but I'll have to pass. I'm just on a tour through Soul Society." Yuzu said, smiling, hoping that Kenpachi would accept her answer.

He didn't seem like he was necessarily a reasonable person. Zaraki just grinned, though, and nodded.

"I'll spar with Noa, then. I need a workout." Kenpachi said, walking off. Ichigo sighed in relief. He had been sure that Kenpachi was just going to attack him.

"Just don't destroy the Seireitei with your fight." Ichigo said. Kenpachi laughed at this. "No promises!" The huge, spiky haired captain shouted, hurrying off with Noa to spar.

Of course, the way those two fought, it could possibly end in the deaths of one of them, most likely Noa. Ichigo had never met anyone who could beat Kenpachi, other than Unohana… Though he had only heard about that fight from a friend. Ichigo nodded to himself, and headed straight for the Second Division barracks, where Karin broke off from the group, heading over to Hinata.

"Hey! Hinata-san!" She said loudly. Hinata looked up, smiling.

"Oh, hello, Miss Kur… Karin-san… Captain Soi Fon is still here, I think. I'm sure she still has time to spar with you. If she's anywhere, she'll be in her office."

"Thanks…"

"Oh, hello… You must be… Yuzu Kurosaki… Your brother talks about you and Karin a lot. He never told me just how beautiful you are, though…" Hinata said, bowing politely to Yuzu, who blushed slightly. He was so charming.

"Perhaps you would do me the honor of allowing me to show you around the Seireitei, Miss Kurosaki…" Hinata said politely. He had only just met her, but already he was smitten.

There was something about her that was very special. He sensed something in her reiatsu. She must have been spiritually aware. She wouldn't have been able to withstand the powerful Reiatsu in Soul Society if she wasn't. Was she just a human, or did she have special powers?

"Oh, I would, but Nii-chan is showing me around. I don't get many chances to see Nii-chan anymore. We're both so busy these days. I'm sorry."

"Oh no. I completely understand. Please, have fun with your brother." Hinata said, feeling silly now, and more than a little disappointed, trying to flirt with Yuzu, especially in front of Ichigo, though the orange haired captain didn't seem to be paying attention. Still, he was sure that Ichigo was keeping track. The orange haired captain was known for his fierce reputation. Still, he didn't seem too angry.

"Maybe another time…" Yuzu said with a smile.

Hinata was strange, his reiatsu felt odd, but she could tell that he was a nice person. Even Ryuken said she had a unique ability to discern people's motives. He had been training her for a while, now, and he often said how impressive her abilities were, even compared to Uryu's, who acquitted himself well when push came to shove. Although Ryuken often said in the past that Uryu didn't have the talent, he worked to show that he did, and always came out on top.

Even still, Yuzu seemed to be a natural. Maybe it was the combination of Quincy and Shinigami blood in her that allowed her particular sensitivity to spiritual particles. Or that was one of his theories. Isshin still didn't care for the fact that Yuzu was learning to be a Quincy. He had already lost Ichigo and Karin to Soul Society. He didn't want to lose Yuzu as well. She may never die, but she still would be constantly fighting Hollows, and he didn't want her in that kind of danger.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Kurosaki…" Hinata said, bowing and kissing her hand lightly. Yuzu's eyes widened slightly. Such an old-fashioned sense of manners.

"Please, call me Yuzu…" She said. Hinata nodded.

"Of course… Yuzu…" Hinata said, his pale skin turning a light shade of pink.

"May I ask how long you will remain in Soul Society?"

"Oh… I'm not sure. But I can give you my home address in Karakura Town." Yuzu said, taking a piece of paper and writing down an address on it, handing it to Hinata. She was really quite charmed by him. His Reiatsu was a little strange, but he seemed like he was a nice person. And she didn't know enough about Shinigami Reiatsu to say whether a strange one was a bad thing.

"Are there any times that are not good for you?" He asked nervously, not wanting to blow it now. He found his heartrate increasing, his breathing becoming labored.

"Well… As long as I'm not in school. I usually am home by 6 o'Clock. I have archery after school, and I'm top of the team, so I can't miss it."

"I look forward to being able to see you, then. Enjoy your time with your brother." Hinata said, bowing again and going back to his work.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

"I'll miss you, Yuzu. I hope you can come back soon." Ichigo said, hugging Yuzu as she stood at the portal to go back to the Human World. Yuzu could feel tears coming to her eyes. She hugged Ichigo back, pulling Karin in as well, kissing each of them on the cheek.

"I love you, Nii-san, Karin-chan… I hope I can come back soon. I don't know when, but maybe in a week or two." Yuzu said, tears filling her chocolate brown eyes.

"We'll count on it." Karin said. She had left training with Soi Fon early so that she wouldn't miss her sister leaving. She and her sister were as different as could be, but they were still very close.

"Good luck with your Quincy training." Karin finished. "You need to follow in our mother's footsteps. Ichi-nii and me are taking after Dad. You need to take after Mom." She said. Yuzu nodded.

"I know. I actually have lessons with Mr. Ishida later today.

"He says I'm doing much better at controlling my Reiatsu, and that I need to keep meditating and training with target practice and with my physical training and spiritual training. He's starting to teach me lower level Quincy techniques. I'm excited. I'm starting to get a hold of them." Yuzu said happily. She was happy to be able to help Ichigo. She could be the First Response and Control Team while Ichigo and the Shinigami could be the raw power that took out more powerful Hollows.

She didn't delude herself into believing that she was powerful enough yet to take on extremely powerful Hollows. But she could respond more quickly to them, and control them while she waited for Ichigo to come. Ichigo seemed to notice this in her.

"Yuzu… I need you to promise me that you won't go off half-cocked and get yourself hurt by a Hollow… _Promise me._ " Ichigo said sternly.

Yuzu shrank back slightly. She couldn't promise him that.

"I-I need to do all that I can, even if I get hurt…" She mutted. Ichigo grabbed her.

"No! If a Shinigami gets injured by a Hollow, even a severe injury, they can heal. Do you know what happens when a Quincy gets injured by a Hollow? If their Reiatsu mixes with the Quincy's, their Reiatsu and their body itself get corrupted. That's what happened to Mom.

"Dad was able to save her by bringing her to Urahara. But she lost her powers because they had to seal them away to save her life. Otherwise, she would have died of the corruption. Hollow Reiatsu is like poison to a Quincy! You need to _promise me_ that you won't try to fight any Hollows!"

"I… I… O-okay… I promise, Nii-chan…" Yuzu muttered, feeling bad, but knowing that Ichigo had her best interests at heart. Still, eventually, she would be powerful enough, and when that happened, she would fight Hollows. After all, what were her powers for if she didn't use them, she reasoned. Ichigo nodded. He would need to get in contact with his father to make sure that Yuzu didn't get in over her head with being a Quincy.

Yuzu said goodbye one last time before she headed through the gate, returning to the Human World. Ichigo sighed. It had been nice to see his sister again. It had been a while, and she was getting bigger, taller. After all, she would be fourteen soon. He would need to get leave to go down to the Human World to celebrate her birthday with her. It was only right. He wondered how his friends were doing. How was Riruka doing?

She had gotten a job working for that jerk, Yukio as a fashion designer. It worked well for her, he thought. She had a good eye for fashion. She had been dating Tsukishima… He may have made mistakes in his life, but it seemed like he was straightening everything out.

"Okay, class… You're done for today." Tsukishima said, telling them to put their swords away, and get changed. He headed to the front to see Tatsuki and Orihime up front, holding hands and waiting on him.

"Hello, ladies. How may I help you?" He asked politely.

"We'd like to sign up for classes." Orihime said excitedly. Tsukishima's eyebrows went up slightly. He had thought that perhaps Tatsuki would want to take classes.

But Orihime had never seemed the fighting type.

"Are you sure, Miss Inoue? As I understand, you've always been something of a pacifist."

"That's not entirely true. I can fight if I need to. Besides, martial arts isn't about fighting. It's about discipline." She said cheerfully. Tsukishima couldn't argue on that point. She was right.

He had lived a life with a lot of fighting. But that didn't mean that fighting was the only way.

"Okay… I'd be glad to train you. What classes would you like to take? Silat? Iaijutsu? Kendo? Kenjutsu? I teach a number of weapon based styles, mainly for swords, but Silat users can wield something called a Kerambit. It's useful for tactical and precise strikes, mainly for quick kills." Tsukishima said, taking out a tiny curved blade.

"It looks like a tiger's claw." Orihime said, taking the Kerambit and inspecting it closer. It looked very sharp and very dangerous.

"It was designed after the Tiger's claw. They studied the way a Tiger hunted and fought and they tried to mimic the style. It was largely used by the peasantry. It's up to you what classes you take." He said, leaning in.

"I assume your interest in furthering your martial arts training is as a result of your recent encounter, Miss Arisawa?" Tsukishima asked, hoping he was being tactful. Tatsuki scowled, but nodded.

"Yes. I don't want to ever be that weak again. I know that it's unfair to expect myself to be able to stand up to a superhuman person. But I've always progressed by expecting more of myself than I currently was able to do. That's how I came in second place, despite having a broken arm.

"That's how I became a master of the martial arts that I practice. There's no other way for me. Maybe you could teach me ways to undermine an opponent's power. Sneaky styles of fighting."

"I can. Outmaneuvering an opponent is hard when your opponent is stronger, faster and more powerful than you. But it can be done. I'll start with teaching you Hapkido and Taekwondo. Do you know either of those?" Tsukishima asked. Tatsuki shook her head.

"I'm mostly skilled in Karate, though I know Aikido and Vale Tudo, I'm hardly a master of either." Tatsuki said. Tsukishima nodded, seeming pleased.

"Good. I can advance your knowledge of all of those styles to some degree. I've never competed professionally, but I got black belts in multiple styles of martial arts, including MMA."

"Really? You seem like you always use a sword." Orihime said, impressed.

"I do. I prefer the use of a sword, mainly because that's what my main Fullbring is, my Idiosyncratic Manipulation affects a sword. But that doesn't mean I didn't learn other styles. I was only about five when Ginjo took me in and taught me to use my Fullbring. He taught me a mix of martial arts that would allow me better use of it. I would be happy to teach you, both of you." Tsukishima said politely.

"Great. How much are the lessons?" Tatsuki asked, worried.

She didn't actually have that much money. She was living with her parents at the time, but her mother and father encouraged her to pay her own way in life, and she had just bought a one month anniversary gift for Orihime. Orihime had been embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that, and promised that she would get her something in return. Tatsuki tried to tell her not to worry about it, but Orihime wouldn't hear of it.

"Miss Arisawa… I can sense significant power in you. Do you happen to be a Quincy?" Tsukishima asked. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"A what, now? Isn't Quincy a last name? Or a first name, or something?"

"Never mind. Can you see spirits, namely Shinigami and Hollows?" He asked. Tatsuki nodded.

"Yes. I've seen Ichigo walking around in his Shinigami clothes. Why?"

"Have you ever been attacked by a Hollow and wounded by that Hollow, as in an open wound of some sort?" Tsukishima asked. Tatsuki thought back.

"Yes. Twice, I was attacked. Once, I got a severe cut from a Hollow. One named Acidwire. The cut hurt so badly, I couldn't believe it. I'm usually pretty high on pain tolerance. But I could barely stand the pain." Tatsuki said, thinking back unwillingly to that night.

"Mm… I thought that might be the case. You may have been healed fully from the wound, but the Hollow's energy stayed inside you, and spread and increased. Even a tiny amount will spread. It will cause no physical damage, but your spiritual awakening may be a result of a mix of circumstances. Kurosaki's spiritual energy, aka, his Reiatsu, was unstable at the time, with a tendency to leak out of his body, well, more like pour out in waves.

"He was impossible to miss. A spiritually inept and blind common Plus could have found him. I suspect that the mix of his Hollow power and his Shinigami power affected much of the class, or at least his closest friends, namely you, Miss Inoue, and a few other friends of his, namely Sado, and the two nitwits that I met that one time. But the Hollow's touch, and cut would have awoken a very specific set of abilities in you, Miss Arisawa."

"Set of abilities?" Tatsuki asked. Tsukishima's eyes narrowed.

"Fullbring… You have the same powers as Miss Inoue and myself. They are not fully realized yet, but if you train in them, they will come out. I suggest you do some soul searching, and find what item matters most to you in your life. A piece of jewelry, a teddy bear, a set of chopsticks, even. It ultimately doesn't matter, as long as it's very important to you.

"For Miss Inoue, it was her hair clips. For Sado, it was his own arms, for Mr. Kurosaki, it was his Substitute Shinigami pass, for me, it's this bookmark, and so on. For now, I will begin training you in the most basic aspects of Fullbring. Those lessons are free. Martial arts… I'll charge you 10,000 yen (approx. 90.00 USD a month. You can just wear sweatpants or whatever you feel comfortable in." Tsukishima said. Tatsuki and Orihime bowed, thanking him.

"Good. We can begin tonight if you like. I have an open area that I go to sometimes to watch the stars with Riruka… We can practice there." Tsukishima said. Tatsuki smirked.

"Great! I'm ready whenever you are!"

"Tatsuki-chan… Maybe we should let Tsukishima-san rest tonight and take him up on his offer tomorrow?" Orihime suggested. Tsukishima shook his head.

"No. I'm not that tired. Besides, I teach martial arts almost every night, other than Sunday. So it would do me no more good to skip tonight than it would tomorrow or the next night. We can begin whenever Miss Arisawa is ready." He said politely. "If you're ready now, I'm happy to start your training now. I'll call Riruka. I need to tell her I'm going to be late. Pardon me a moment." Tsukishima said.

"Hello? Riruka?" Tsukishima said. Riruka snorted.

"Who else?" Riruka demanded.

"Of course. I'm going to be late tonight. I'm helping Miss Arisawa train in her Fullbring. I've sensed one in her since I first met her, but she's never said that she wanted to learn to harness it.

"Today, she came to my dojo and asked me to continue her training in martial arts. Since I was sure it was about her assault by Megumi, I felt it was time for her to fully harness her powers."

"Great. I'll be right over. You're training in the field outside Karakura?" Riruka asked. Tsukishima nodded.

"Yes. We'll be there until late in the evening. Come whenever you feel like it."

Tsukishima hung up then, and took Tatsuki and Orihime to the field, where he began explaining the basics of Fullbring.

"Everything has a soul in it. Living things have stronger souls than inanimate objects, and animals have stronger souls than plants and such. But even this bottle of water has a soul. Watch." Tsukishima said, waving his hand over the water, and drawing it out, pulling the water into his mouth.

"You see? My power resonated with the soul in the water and drew it out. Now, another name for this is Idiosyncratic Manipulation, or at least, once you have your special object, it will. Your soul will specifically correspond with the soul of your item, and will draw out its true power. Do you understand, Miss Arisawa?" Tatsuki nodded.

"Good. Then look down at the ground, and close your eyes. Try to feel the soul in it. Expand your spiritual senses, and feel it." Tsukishima said. Tatsuki took a deep breath, and sought the soul in the ground. She kept looking, but found nothing. Tsukishima wasn't surprised, though, and told her to get ready for combat. He wasn't going to use his Book of the End, but he would have her access her powers by practice.

As soon as he was sure she was ready, he moved towards her, making sure that she could see his Bringer Light. Tatsuki stepped aside, shocked at how fast Tsukishima was. He took a bokken and swung at Tatsuki, who blocked with her forearm, gasping at the force of the blow. He hadn't swung that hard, but it was more powerful than she had expected. She had seen a slight flicker of light around the sword as it swung through the air. Had he brought out the soul of the sword?

"You shouldn't use your arm to block my bokken. You'll end up with broken bones." Tsukishima said quietly, twisting and attacking for a second time.

As she dodged again, she tried to counter, but hit only air, and was rewarded with a blow with the bokken to her stomach. Tatsuki gasped as the wind was driven from her lungs, and she collapsed to her knees.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime cried, running over to her. Tatsuki put her hand up, though.

"No! I'm fine. Really." She said, taking shallow, gasping breaths and standing up.

"I'm… Ready."

"No. Catch your breath first." Tsukishima said, putting his sword down at his side as Riruka ran over to them. She smirked annoyingly at Tatsuki.

"You've beaten her already? She must not be much to speak of. She's kinda cute. I'd bang her once… Give her a try. But not too strong, apparently." Riruka mocked. Tatsuki sneered at this.

"Perhaps you'd like to spar with me. We'll see how strong I am against you?" Tatsuki goaded. Riruka laughed.

"You wouldn't last a minute against me. But sure. Let's see…" She said pompously, walking over to stand across from Tatsuki and getting into a fighting position, activating her Fullbring.

Tatsuki could tell just from looking at her stance that she wasn't a practiced fighter. She might have superior speed and maybe superior strength. But she wasn't a fighter. Tatsuki had beaten people twice her size before, and men much stronger than her physically. It wasn't hard if you knew where to hit. She prepared for a rough battle. She prepared as if this Riruka was much better than she looked. After all, Riruka couldn't possibly look any less threatening.

Riruka moved first, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Tatsuki blocked her punch and countered, moving her fist underneath her guard, making several quick jabs in her side, throwing her off balance, and kicking her in the chest, and forcing her back. Riruka snarled, brushing her dress off, and charging at Tatsuki again, who had more trouble dodging this time, but made it in the nick of time, making another jab at Riruka's Solar Plexus, dropping her in one shot.

"You're stronger and faster than me. But I've had no shortage of people who were stronger and faster than I was. As long as I can account for that in my fighting style, I can beat it. Tsukishima beat me because he's a better fighter. You were never a fighter, were you? I can tell by your style. You avoid getting dirty at all costs, and your fighting suffers because of it." Tatsuki said proudly, offering her hand to help Riruka stand up. Riruka swatted it away angrily, though.

"Again! Fight me again!" She demanded. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Why? The next fight will go the same way. The one after that will, too. You have no eye for battle. I'll beat you again and again until you practice and stop worrying about getting dirty." Tatsuki said.

"No! I just wasn't ready! You surprised me… You were… A little better than I expected…"

"Fine. I'll fight you again. Tell me when you're ready." Tatsuki sighed, getting into a fighting position. Riruka smirked, taking a deep breath and catching her wind again, getting into a fighting stance that roughly mimicked Tatsuki's. Mimicry wasn't going to win Riruka that fight. But maybe if she got in even one hit, Tatsuki would stop looking down on her. She had learned Fullbring so that nobody could ever look down on her again, so that she would be better than normal people.

And now this complete novice who couldn't even harness her Fullbring properly was showing her up in a fight. It simply wasn't right.

"I'm ready." Riruka said. Tatsuki nodded, and rushed Riruka, kicking where her stomach had been, but missing. Riruka ducked and stepped around toward Tatsuki's back, aiming for her head. Tatsuki twisted and grabbed Riruka's foot, tripping her and punching the air directly over her face.

"I win. You did better this time, though. I can teach you to fight if you want." Tatsuki said, offering her hand again. Riruka once again swatted her hand away.

"I don't need your help, you dyke bitch! Shuu-kun can teach me to fight."

"Okay, one… Don't call me that unless you want your pretty little nose broken…" Tatsuki growled irritably. She wondered if Riruka pissed off everyone else the way she did with her.

"And two, fine. I offered to help. You don't want my help, I don't care. I just need to learn to use Fullbring. I refuse to be a target ever again." Tatsuki finished. Tsukishima nodded, gesturing for her to sit under the tree.

"Okay… Now, you've seen the basics of what Fullbring looks like. But you haven't really gotten a complete picture of what that means.

"Picture the ground beneath you. What is the ground made of?"

"Dirt… And grass…"

"Well yes, but what are the dirt and grass made of?"

"Grass is made of Chlorophyll and plant cells and dirt is made of eroded stone." Tatsuki replied.

"Good… And what are those made of?"

"Molecules." Tatsuki said. Tsukishima nodded. "Good. At their most basic level, everything is made of molecules. I want you to visualize the molecules, and visualize what the soul of those molecules most be like. To do so, extend your spiritual sight outwards. You're not as powerful a being as a Quincy… Yet. But you are capable of seeing Pluses, Hollows and Shinigami.

"That's a good start. Even amongst Spiritually Aware beings, you're several steps ahead."

"This is sounding an awful lot like that spiritual mumbo jumbo, Chakras and Chi and all that stuff." Tatsuki said skeptically. Tsukishima laughed mildly.

"In a sense, it is. But it's spiritual power, not physical power. Ki and Chakras are an expression of the body, where as Rei, or spirit are expressions of the soul.

"Now please, close your eyes, and imagine the ground below you at its most basic level." Tsukishima said, sitting down in front of her and closing his eyes as well. Tatsuki took a deep breath, and focused her spiritual sense, trying to feel everything in the area, aiming specifically for the ground below her. It was a start. Finally, she could feel something in the ground… No, those were just the ants and other insects. She kept going, and finally sensed the slightest light, and gasped.

"Good… You've sensed it. Now you need to be able to do that on a moment's notice. And realize that just because the object is not living does not mean that it doesn't contain a soul. Stand." Tsukishima said. Tatsuki stood up, and Tsukishima told her to close her eyes again.

"Now, focus on the soul in the ground, and command it to repel you. Have you done that?" He asked. Tatsuki nodded.

"Good… Now, jump. Good… Good… Now, jump again the minute you land." Tsukishima said. Tatsuki jumped again, and leapt almost fifteen feet in the air. She screamed as she reached the arc of her leap, and began to freefall.

Orihime leapt up and caught her, falling back down to the ground, bending her knees when she hit the ground, putting Tatsuki down and kissing her.

"Good job, Tatsuki-chan! You're learning really fast!" She said brightly. Tatsuki blushed slightly. She still wasn't quite used to Orihime's affection towards her. She had had feelings for Orihime for years now, but she had never expected Orihime to return them.

It had been a strange conversation that they had that day. But one that she would remember forever.

" _Tatsuki-chan… Are we going to talk about what you said to me that night?" Orihime asked. Tatsuki looked up, a little bit puzzled as to what her friend meant._

" _What on earth do you mean? Did I say something offensive?"_

" _No, no! Of course not! You… You confessed to me… And it's been almost a month since then, but we've been ignoring it… I was just going to let you bring it back up when you were ready, but…"_

" _I'm sorry, Orihime… I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Tatsuki muttered, blushing deeply. Orihime laughed, hugging Tatsuki tightly._

" _You didn't make me uncomfortable. I'm happy you feel like that about me… I know it sounds weird… I've always been so vocal about my feelings for Kurosaki-kun… With you, anyway. But I've always sort of had feelings for you as well, Tatsuki-chan. Is that weird?" Orihime asked._

 _Tatsuki actually laughed about this question._

" _A lot of things you do are strange, Orihime-chan… But this isn't one of them. I'm relieved, I guess that you feel the same way. Maybe we could go on a date some time?" Tatsuki asked. Orihime nodded, smiling cheerfully. "I can't wait."_

"You're doing well, Miss Arisawa." Tsukishima said quietly. "You have the basics down, and you learned much faster than I expected. We can call it a night if you like." Tatsuki shook her head vigorously.

"No! Not until I've trained more! How do I make myself faster!" She demanded. Tsukishima seemed surprised by her enthusiasm.

"The principle is similar to jumping. However, you need to Fullbring both the air and the ground. Watch as I do it." Tsukishima said, taking a breath and Tatsuki saw a tiny flicker of green light appear under Tsukishima's feet as he took off, and made it to the other side of the field in a few seconds and then back to Tatsuki's side.

"So you need to improve your ability to multitask, in this case affecting the souls of multiple things at once. We'll continue this lesson tomorrow. Have a good night, ladies." Tsukishima said politely. Tatsuki, feeling like she had been cheated on time, spoke up immediately.

"Come on! I'm paying for these lessons! Keep going!"

"No… I won't overwork you, first of all… And second of all, I'm not charging you for these lessons. I'll charge you if you join one of my martial arts classes, but not for this. This is just teaching you the basic self-defense you need to protect yourself against opponents like myself. Go home and rest. Come back tomorrow at the same time. Am I understood?"

"Yes." Tatsuki muttered grudgingly, taking Orihime's hand and walking off.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

"Mm… Let's see… Excuse me, sir… Could you tell me where this address is? I'm afraid I'm hopelessly lost…" Hinata said sheepishly. A young man looked at the piece of paper, and nodded.

"Sure… You going for a checkup?" He asked. Hinata, confused by this statement, merely agreed.

"Yes, sir." Hinata muttered, not sure he was giving the right answer. Still, if it got him where he needed to be, then he shouldn't care.

Hinata felt a little bit odd in a gigai. He hadn't gone to the Human World in decades, and the last time he went, he only needed the Gigai for a few hours before he could leave it and start fighting a Hollow. The young man drew out a map on the back of the piece of paper, and put their current location as a star, drawing a line between where they currently were and where Hinata needed to go.

"Okay. This is where we are right now. Just go over two streets that way and go down until you get here." The man said. It was a crude map, but it got the job done.

"Thank you, sir." Hinata said, bowing politely, and heading north.

"Um… You're going the opposite direction. You need to go South." He said.

"Why don't I just take you directly to the address?" He asked. He figured that this strange man with the strange accent would wander around the city for hours if he didn't just lead him right to the location.

"Thank you, sir. That's very kind of you. I don't have any money, though." Hinata said. The man laughed at this.

"No, no… I don't want any money. I enjoy learning about people. So, where are you from? You speak fluent Japanese, but your accent doesn't seem like it's from around here… And to say you have no sense of direction would be an understatement."

"I'm… From… About as far north as you can go and still be in Japan. It's a very small town called Zaraki…" Hinata said. He wasn't exactly lying.

He did originally come from Zaraki. It was as far North as you could go in Rukongai, and within Zaraki, he was pretty far North.

"Ah, you're from Wakkanai?" He asked. Hinata shook his head, following along behind the man.

"No. But I was pretty close. It's a tiny town called Zaraki. It doesn't even show up on most maps." Hinata said. The man nodded.

"Mm… Okay… We're here… You can go in the clinic door if you're here for an appointment." The man said.

"Thank you very much." Hinata said, walking up the steps and ringing the doorbell. The man turned and hurried off, realizing that he was actually late.

"Hello, young man… How may I help you?" Isshin asked.

"Excuse me, sir… I'm here to see Miss Yuzu?" Hinata asked, rubbing his arm nervously.

"I see… You're a Shinigami, aren't you?" Isshin asked, his eyes narrowing. Hinata gasped.

"N-no… I mean… Well… H-how did you know?"

"My birth name is Shiba… I was a member of one of the Four Great Noble Clans. I was a captain. And you clearly have the Reiatsu of a Shinigami… Though slightly off… So what are your intentions for my daughter? Do you plan to take her away as well? I've already lost Ichigo and Karin, and Yuzu-chan is already gone over to the Quincies."

"No, sir. I just want to take her on a date… If it's alright with you."

"Have her back before dark… She probably has homework to do…" Isshin ordered. Hinata nodded nervously. If this was the man he was thinking of, then in spite of his unthreatening appearance, he was actually quite dangerous.

"Yuzu-chan! You have a boy here for you!" Isshin called. Yuzu hurried to get her shoes on. She hadn't expected Hinata to come to see her so soon. In little more than a minute, Yuzu appeared before Hinata, looking just as beautiful as she had when he first met her.

"Hello, Miss Yuzu… Do you have the time this evening?"

"Sure… The weekend starts tonight, so I don't have school tomorrow. I'll be back later, Dad."

"Have fun, sweetie." Isshin said, closing the door as they left.

"So, what did you want to do tonight, Hinata?" Yuzu asked. Hinata shrugged.

"I've been completely lost in this city for the past three hours. I was kind of hoping you had a plan."

"Sure… Let's go to Urahara Shoten… He's always fun, and he has two kids about our age there as well." Yuzu said. Hinata nodded, following Yuzu to a strange looking shop that was emanating some powerful Reiatsu. Whoever was in there was more powerful than Hinata had imagined. He thought that they must either be so dangerous that Soul Society didn't dare attack them, or so good at hiding their signature that Soul Society didn't know.

Otherwise, how could they have remained here for so long unharassed?

"Urahara-san!" Yuzu called cheerfully. Soon, a man in a black, billowing jacket with a green and white striped fishing hat came out, yawning widely.

"Oh, uh… Hi, Miss Kurosaki… The kids will be happy to see you. They don't get much company anymore…" Urahara said, yawning again.

Had he been sleeping? It was the middle of the evening. What businessman would be asleep when he should be tending his shop?

"Oh… Hello, young man… You have a somewhat intimidating Reiatsu…" Urahara said, smelling Hinata and backing away.

"You wouldn't happen to be an Arrancar, would you?" He asked, as though he would answer honestly if he was. Hinata shook his head.

"No, sir. I think I was what you Shinigami call a Vasto Lorde before I was purified, and sent to Soul Society. But my soul wasn't completely cleansed, and because of that, when I got to Soul Society, I had strange powers that scared other people.

"I was lucky that Captain Soi Fon gave me a chance to become a Shinigami… But… I'm afraid my Zanpakuto kind of puts some people off." Hinata said nervously. Kisuke nodded.

"Mm… Yes, I've heard of cases like yours. They're rare, but not unheard of. Usually, a Hollow's purification is complete. But when you get more powerful Hollows, such as yourself, there are sometims complications. You don't seem evil. Miss Yuzu would have been able to sense if you were.

"She's much more intuitive than even most Quincies. But please, come in. I've always wanted to meet a being like you, Mr…"

"Hinata, sir."

"Mr. Hinata…"

"Please, just call me Hinata… Given your power, you must have held a high position in Soul Society."

"That was a very long time ago. Over 100 years, now. I was a captain. But we were betrayed by a man called Sosuke Aizen. A story for another time. Come in, come in. Take off your shoes." Kisuke said.

"Kids! We have guests!" The strange shopkeeper called. Two children came down. One looked rather meek and unassuming while the other looked like he belonged in the Yakuza.

"Yuzu-chan!" The thuggish redhead said, shocked that she was here.

"Hello, Jinta, Ururu… How are you?" Yuzu asked. Ururu smiled.

"We're doing pretty well. And you, Yuzu? Who is this young man?" Ururu asked.

"Oh! This is Tomoe Hinata… We're on a date, and I thought I'd show him the city." Yuzu said, completely unaware of the effect this had on Jinta, who stiffened.

"Oh, great! Hey, Hinata… You ever played Soccer before?" Jinta asked.

"Mm… No… I'm not even sure I would know what it is. Maybe you could show me?" He asked politely. Jinta smirked.

"Sure… We can show you. Ya mind learning by doing?"

"Well, that's how I learned most of my swordfighting skills. There aren't many Shinigami who can use Kerambits, so I sort of had to learn on my own."

"Wait… Maybe we could spar a bit…"

"If that's what you want to do… Jinta-san…" Hinata said, annoying Jinta with how agreeable he was being. "You don't happen to have any wooden daggers, do you?"

"We can do you one better, Hinata… We've got wooden kerambits.

"They were carved by our very own Tessai…" Kisuke said cheerfully, disappearing into the back and coming back with two curved wooden blades. They didn't have any sharp edges, but they had a hole in the end to stick his finger through.

"I can sell those to you for 1,500 Kan! They're enchanted to be unbreakable!"

"Sure… I could always use a spare pair." Hinata said, taking out his cell phone and transferring the money to Kisuke, who smiled.

"Business finished. Go out and have fun!" He said.

"And try not to break anything, Jinta…" He added. Jinta scowled and flipped him off. A very brave or very stupid move, Hinata thought to himself.

Jinta took a giant wooden Kanabo with him that looked very heavy, swinging it around with one arm. Hinata had no doubt that Jinta could wield it with ease. Ururu looked uncomfortable, whispering frantically to Jinta. Hinata heard little snippets of their conversation. "Hurt him" "Be careful" "Go too far". Either way, a Kanabo was a clumsy weapon, and no matter how practiced someone was with it, it tended to slow the person down. If Hinata could work around that, he could avoid it without trouble.

"O-okay… Three… Two… One… B-begin!" Ururu called. Jinta attacked first, swinging the Kanabo hard and making a huge dent in the ground, cracking the earth all around them. Hinata leapt up and over the giant bat, and swiped at Jinta, who dodged the Kerambit as well. For now, Hinata was just seeing exactly how strong Jinta was, as opposed to how skilled he was.

It seemed that he had fair skill as well as admirable strength. Strength was not Hinata's forte, so to speak. He always had greater speed and agility. He leapt over Jinta's next Kanabo strike, landing on the club itself and jumping up, flipping over Jinta's head and landing, twisting and striking at Jinta's back.

"Sneak!" Jinta snarled angrily as he barely dodged the attack. Hinata laughed.

"I'm afraid that's my business model. I am a member of the Onmitsukido…" he said, dodging underneath a wide swing of Jinta's Kanabo and sweeping his legs out from under him before immediately striking to the chest.

"I win. It was a good fight, though. You likely would have brained me if you had hit even once with that Kanabo." Hinata said, reaching down to pull Jinta up. Jinta swatted Hinata's hand away, standing up on his own, looking fiercely at Hinata, and stalking off angrily.

"Wow! Good job, Hinata-san! It's not easy to beat Jinta! He's had a lot of training with that Kanabo."

"Thank you. My specialty is not head to head combat, though. I'm more of an assassin than a fighter. My Zanpakuto is called Kyuketsuki no En for a reason." Hinata said soberly. Head to head combat had never made him feel good. He didn't get satisfaction out of winning a difficult battle. He did get satisfaction out of completing a mission, though, regardless of the tactics he used. It was probably leftover from a time when he was an emotionless killer leading a cult.

"Well… That's why you're in the Onmitsukido, right, Hinata?" Kisuke asked. Hinata nodded silently.

"Hey, Yuzu! You wanna play soccer with us? Some other friends of ours just showed… And we were gonna get some teams together!" Jinta said cheerfully. Yuzu shrugged and nodded. Sports were never her strong suit, but she needed to get in better shape anyway to be a proper Quincy.

"Great… You, you, you and I will be on one team. You, you, you, and you… Will be on the other." Jinta said. Yuzu went to the team opposing Jinta with Hinata. She had explained the rules of soccer a bit. She wasn't as good as Karin was, but she was decent. She had to learn it in gym class.

"Now, for those of you who don't know, the point of the game is to get the ball into the other team's goal. You have to kick the ball, you can't pick it up. They have to deflect the ball." Jinta said. Hinata nodded, seeming to be picking all this up pretty easily.

"Maybe I should be the goalie. It won't help your team if I make a beginner's mistake, Miss Yuzu.

"C'mon… Call me Yuzu… We're on a date…" Yuzu whispered, blushing slightly.

"Sure… Y-Yuzu…" Hinata said self-consciously, heading over to the goal, and standing in front of it, waiting for something to happen. The rest of the team started the game. It was difficult for normal humans to have a chance against someone like Jinta, but since Jinta found quickly that he couldn't get the ball past Hinata, it was more or less even until about the middle of the game when Ururu decided to join the game. Jinta didn't seem terribly worried.

But when she showed that she was better at sports than she looked, and he realized that he still had no way of scoring, he started to slip up a bit. In the end, the game ended with a score of 1-0 in Hinata's team's favor. Hinata went over to Jinta, and bowed politely to him, but Jinta didn't bow back. He merely scowled and stalked off. Kisuke came over and tried to smooth things over.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Come on, Jinta! They're our guests! You don't want them to not come again, do you?"

"Why should I care whether they come again or not?"

"Jinta! You will apologize to our customers…" Tessai said firmly, walking out of the shop and lifting Jinta into the air with a single hand, looking him in the eye. Jinta gasped, and immediately apologized to Hinata, who bowed politely to Tessai.

"It's an honor to meet you. You were the former captain of the Kido Corps, were you not?" He asked quietly while out of hearing range of the other children. Tessai nodded, smiling.

"I'm impressed, young man. Not many people still know about my former occupation. I suspect you to be a member of the Onmitsukido?"

"Third Seat of Second Division, and a member of the Onmitsukido, sir…" Hinata said, seeming quite proud. Tessai scratched his chin.

"Third Seat. I sense so much power in you, though."

"Yes, sir…" Hinata said modestly.

"Hmm… I sense some Hollow on you. You were a Hollow before you were purified, were you not? You must have been quite powerful? What level did you make it to before purification?"

"Vasto Lorde… But I was a leader of a small organization within the Rukongai… A shameful misuse of my abilities. Captain Soi Fon generously gave me the opportunity to use my powers for something better, though. And today, I serve under her." Hinata said.

"And your… Zanpakuto?" Kisuke asked. Hinata looked away.

"Back before I fully learned to control my Zanpakuto's power, I occasionally absorbed reiryoku unconsciously. People learned back then not to get too close to me. Only Shinigami who could exercise great control over the flow of their Reiryoku, prevent it from being sucked out of them dared come too close to me. It was mostly Lieutenant and Captain class Shinigami. Captain Soi Fon, who was training me for the Onmitsukido was the one I spent the most time with.

"Excuse me, I've rambled." Hinata said, blushing slightly. Kisuke laughed.

"Not at all! I was in the Onmitsukido myself, back before I was excommunicated from Soul Society. Your Reiatsu is quite powerful. Captain Class at lowest. I would say that if you continue to increase your reishi as you are, you'll be much more powerful within a year or two at most."

"That's the thing… Soul Society has forbidden me to use that aspect of my Zanpakuto unless they give me specific permission to do so. They consider it too dangerous to be used freely since absorbing reiryoku so rapidly can cause Soul Death. It destabilizes the foundation of the subject's soul and absorbs them completely. When I do so, I receive a much larger boost in Reiryoku. But it's cannibalistic and considered a crime if I do it without permission. I think they fear me becoming drunk on my power and thus place immense limits on my use of it." Hinata said nervously. Kisuke nodded.

"Would you consider working for me instead? You would be closer to your girl, and we protect Karakura Town from Hollows, which you could use to further enhance your power. I sense that you've already absorbed multiple powerful Hollows."

"I-I couldn't… I owe so much to Captain Soi Fon. I would like to be closer to Miss Yuzu, but… I couldn't betray Soul Society. They've given me so much."

"That's a noble sentiment." Kisuke said, hoping that Hinata was never dissuaded of his idealism. Kisuke had found over 100 years ago that Soul Society wasn't necessarily as noble as it made itself out to be. Those who were different, those who couldn't fit in were quickly cast out, whether in the Maggot's Nest or being banished altogether. Kisuke was lucky that he escaped before they stripped him of his powers.

And the Vizards were hardly as lucky. They were going to be executed. It wasn't until recently that they were allowed back into Soul Society. Whether because they needed captains quickly or because they realized that it was Aizen's fault, not Kisuke's and the Vizards' fault, they were allowed back. Kisuke, and by extension, Tessai decided not to return.

"I know of your bad experiences with the Seireitei, Urahara-san… You used to be the Captain of 12th Division. But you were framed for forbidden experimentation."

"No, I was guilty of forbidden experimentation. I was framed for using the forbidden experiment on other Shinigami… If I'm guilty anyways, I'd like to at least be considered guilty of the right crime."

"It's hard to believe that you were a former member of the Onmitsukido, sir… You're so relaxed and casual." Hinata said uncertainly. Kisuke laughed self-indulgently.

"Oh, well thank you. Ms. Yoruichi and Soi Fon said the same thing. Soi Fon was so obsessed with finding dirt on me that she tailed me for a full day… She just hated me so much!

"It was fun to lead her around Soul Society, doing nothing in particular, letting her take her notes and get nothing done." Kisuke laughed. "She's just so serious, isn't she?" Kisuke asked. Hinata rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. If this was the kind of man that Kisuke was, he wasn't surprised that Soi Fon didn't care for him. He was a little bit off-putting, even if he was very powerful. What was it about this man that was so annoying?

Whatever it was, Yuzu didn't seem to see it, since she was laughing at his antics.

"Well… We better get going… Yuzu's father wants me to bring her home before dark… And I wouldn't want him to believe that he was wrong in trusting me." Hinata said, taking Yuzu's hand and hurrying out of Kisuke's shop. The sun was already beginning to set, so he began running faster, not taking into account Yuzu's limitations until she cried out as he pulled her arm too hard.

"Oh! I'm so sorry… Yuzu… Let me see your arm." Hinata said, looking closely at it in the waning sunlight. It would bruise if nothing was done. He took a deep breath. Wielding kido was harder in his gigai, but for the relatively small wound Yuzu had, he could do it. His hand began to glow and her arm stopped hurting. Yuzu's eyes widened as this happened.

"You can do magic?" She asked. Hinata nodded.

"A little bit. Most Shinigami can perform basic spells. My skill is more in assassination techniques than magic… But I can still use magic for basic purposes like this." He said modestly, starting to run again. Yuzu hurried after him. By the time, they made it back to the clinic, it was just after sunset and Yuzu was gasping for breath.

"Perhaps it would have been better to just be a little bit late." Hinata said. They were already late, but Yuzu looked exhausted now.

"No… It's… Alright… I really should… Be running more… Anyway…" She managed to gasp. Her training was by necessity intense. She was already about to go into high school. If she waited too long, she would begin college before she finished her basic training.

And that wouldn't be any good, since then she would be unable to train like she needed to. After a while, her breathing returned to normal, and they headed to the front door and headed inside.

"We're home, Daddy!" Yuzu called.

Suddenly, Hinata heard a rush of wind and leapt out of the way, rolling on the floor and standing up as Isshin leapt from the top floor, landing on the bottom floor in a thunderous boom as he hit the floor.

"You're late, young man!" He exclaimed. Hinata nodded.

"I'm sorry, sir… I… Lost track of time. We visited Mr. Urahara's shop and I guess I was enjoying myself so much that I forgot to look at the clock." He said, looking away nervously.

"Well, that's alright I guess… You're only about ten minutes late… I can forgive it this once. Yuzu, go upstairs and start your homework! Mr…" Isshin began.

"Tomoe… Please, call me Hinata, sir." Hinata replied.

"Hinata… Please sit down. I'll be with you in a minute." Isshin said. Hinata gulped, but started over to the couch. Yuzu stopped him, though, kissing him lightly on the lips.

"I had fun tonight. Maybe we can get together again soon…" She said with a smile, heading upstairs. Hinata turned a deep shade of pink.

Isshin went up with Yuzu and made sure that she was set with her homework, then went downstairs to talk to Hinata.

"So we didn't really get to talk before… Yuzu-chan is very special to me. There comes a day in all parents' lives when they need to let their kids move on. But until that day, it's a parent's job to protect their child… So I'll ask you this exactly once. What are your intentions for Yuzu?"

Isshin said this very seriously, making Hinata wonder if there was even a right answer.

"Um… Well… Sir, I don't know how long or even if this will last. Humans age so much faster than Shinigami… There's not a long time that it will even be appropriate for me to date her… But I genuinely like her… She's nice, she's interesting and there's something about her that I can't put my finger on… Her Reiatsu is so pure, so gentle…"

"Mm… Yes, yes… Yuzu-chan is all those things." Isshin said, nodding along with Hinata. "She is quite special. Very well… You can date her… But if you hurt her, I will bury you… Alive… Face down… In cement."

"What's cement?"

"It's an acronym for Can't escape my earthen nightmarish tomb." Isshin made up on the spot.

"Really?" Hinata asked, gulping deeply.

"No… Of course not, Hinata…" Yuzu said, hugging him tightly. "Daddy wouldn't hurt you." She assured him. Hinata sighed with relief, but didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Daddy… Stop trying to scare Hinata!"

"You're supposed to be doing your homework, Yuzu-chan!"

"And you're supposed to not be scaring my boyfriend away! Again!"

"He was no good for you! And the one before that…"

"Wasn't a boy. I know, it took time for you to get used to that… Maybe with my next girlfriend you'll accept it." Yuzu said with a laugh. Isshin's eyes widened.

"Your _next_ girlfriend?"

"I'm joking, Dad, jeez… Who can say what will happen next week or even tomorrow?" Yuzu asked, shrugging. Hinata laughed, but was quickly silenced by a dirty look from Isshin. Finally, Yuzu smiled and went back upstairs to finish her homework and Isshin and Hinata finished their conversation.

"I'm serious… Ichigo and Karin have both left home… Karin was still so young. Ichigo would have left home soon anyway. But Karin was still Yuzu's age. I won't have my daughter hurt by jerks who just want to string them along! You _will_ treat Yuzu-chan with the resepct she deserves!" Isshin commanded. Hinata nodded, standing and heading toward the door.

"I hope to see you again soon, Yuzu… I'll send you a Hell Butterfly. This town has a good defense force. Between you, your father, Urahara and his small military force… You guys hardly need our help." Hinata said, taking out his sword and poking a hole in the sky, walking back to Soul Society. Before he left, he kissed Yuzu once more, then he disappeared into the Rukongai.


End file.
